Nine die in Baghdad mosque bombing
Second group claims Iraq copter downing



BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- A suicide car bomber killed at least nine 
people and wounded 24 others Friday near a Shiite Muslim mosque in 
Baghdad, police sources said.

The bomber in a BMW struck near al-Subaih Mosque in the southeastern 
Jedida neighborhood as Shiites were leaving the mosque after Friday 
prayers, the sources said.

About 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million people are Shiites. They were 
persecuted under Saddam Hussein's regime but have gained power in the 
new National Assembly, elected in January.

Sunni Muslim militants and Saddam loyalists are part of an insurgency 
marked by suicide bombings, kidnappings and beheadings that have 
often targeted Shiites.

New video airs
Arabic-language TV network Al-Jazeera aired a video Friday appearing 
to show a commercial helicopter with 11 people aboard being shot down 
a day earlier.

CNN has not confirmed the video's authenticity.

An Al-Jazeera anchor said an insurgent group -- the Army of the 
Mujahedeen, whose logo was superimposed on a corner of the video 
screen image -- took credit for shooting down the chopper.

The video showed the Russian-made MI-8 flying low and away from the 
camera, then falling to the ground with a trail of thick black smoke 
after the sound of two loud blasts.

This video release comes a day after another clip, reportedly shot by 
a different insurgent group, showed scenes from the crash site.

That group, the Islamic Army in Iraq, also claimed responsibility for 
the deaths of the 11 people onboard -- one of them apparently slain 
after surviving the crash.

Among the dead were six American employees of the security firm 
Blackwater USA, three Bulgarian crew members and two Fijian security 
guards.

In the video purportedly showing the aftermath of the helicopter's 
crash, the wreckage burns in a field.

An insurgent's voice can be heard saying in Arabic, "Look at this 
filthy one," as he directs a camera toward one of two nearby charred 
bodies.

The video shows an apparent survivor lying in a field of high grass. 
Debris burns in the background, and it appears he is some distance 
from the crash site.

"Give me a hand," says the man, who is wearing a blue jumpsuit and 
gloves.

"Come here, come here," an insurgent shouts.

The man says his leg is broken and is helped to his feet. The 
insurgents tell him, "Go! Go!" and he walks slowly through the grass, 
with a slight limp.

The cameraman instructs the shooter in Arabic, "One moment." The 
video zooms out, and when the man is in the middle of the frame, the 
cameraman gives the order to shoot. The victim turns toward his 
killer, and more than 15 shots ring out, repeatedly striking him, 
even after he falls to the ground.

"We are applying God's law," a voice says in Arabic.

The video appeared on Web sites Islamist groups use. Al-Jazeera also 
aired portions of it, and CNN cannot confirm this video's 
authenticity either.

Mihail Mihailov, general director of the Bulgarian company that owned 
and operated the helicopter, identified the man in the video as 
Lubomir Kostov, one of the Bulgarian commanders on the helicopter.

The Islamic Army in Iraq has carried out attacks in Iraq and taken 
hostages, including an Italian journalist who was beheaded. The 
militant group also took two French journalists hostage but released 
them.

The helicopter was ferrying passengers from Baghdad to the northern 
city of Tikrit when it went down.

The Bulgarian Defense Ministry said missile fire downed the chopper, 
which U.S. military sources said they also suspected.

U.S. State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said the six Americans 
were assisting the department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, which 
protects diplomats.

Blackwater said Heli-Air Services, a subcontractor to air charter 
firm SkyLink Air and Logistic Support, owned and operated the 
aircraft. Bulgaria said the three crew members were civilians and 
identified them as commanders Kostov and Georgi Naieeno and board 
engineer Stoyan Anchev. The identities of the other dead were not 
immediately available.

Eighteen Blackwater employees have died since the war in Iraq began, 
the company said.

Other developments

An American soldier was killed and another injured Friday when a 
roadside bomb exploded near their vehicle in northern Iraq, a U.S. 
military statement said. The improvised explosive device detonated 
north of Tal Afar while the soldiers with the Army's 1st Corps 
Support Command were on a combat logistics patrol. Since the start of 
the war, 1,566 U.S. service members have died in Iraq.

The U.S. Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved $81 billion for 
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Full story)

Al-Jazeera on Friday also aired video of three Romanian journalists --
 two men and a woman -- and a translator who have been held hostage 
in Iraq since March. The network said kidnappers have given the 
Romanian government four days from the release of the video to pull 
its troops out of Iraq or the journalists will be killed. (Full story)
CNN's Caroline Faraj, Ayman Mohyeldin, Kianne Sadeq, Barbara Starr 
and Mohammed Tawfeeq and journalist Venelin Petkov contributed to 
this report.
 

  
 
  
 

  
Find this article at: 
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/04/22/iraq.main/index.html  
  


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