Iraqi Military Broadcasts Confession of Bombing Suspect

Former Policeman From Sunni-Majority Town a 'Top Ba'athist'

by Jason Ditz, August 23, 2009

With officials in Iraq trading blame for Wednesday’s massive Baghdad bombings, the Iraqi military ordered a public confession broadcast on state media from what they say is the mastermind behind one of the biggest bombings.

The man, identified as Wisam Ali Khazim Ibrahim, says he was a former police officer in the town of Mugdadiyah, a town in the Diyala Province with a large Sunni majority. Ibrahim said he flled to Syria in 2006, but returned one year later to revive the Ba’athist Party.

The bombings, which caused well over 1,000 casualties according to official government figures, were coordinated to hit key targets across the city and all hit in a little less than one hour. Ibrahim said the drivers of one of the truck bombs had to pay thousands of dollars in bribes to officials to get the payload to its intended target.

US officials have expressed frustration with the pace of training in Iraq, though the White House said it hoped the bombings would “energize” the Iraqi government to fight the insurgency.

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