Iraq bombs hit Kurdish leaders

The US military had warned of a possible surge of attacks during Eid al-Adha, the first day of the most important feast on the Muslim calendar. But few had anticipated twin suicide bombings that could prove devastating for the leaders of Iraq's Kurdish minority.

At about 10:30 on Sunday morning, suicide bombers walked into the throngs of well-wishers gathered at the separate offices of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP) in Arbil and then blew themselves up.

At least 57 people were confirmed killed and 100 injured in the blast, according to a spokesman for the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). Kurdish officials say the death toll may rise above 100, which would make the attacks the deadliest bombings in Iraq since a car bombing outside a mosque in Najaf last August.

Whoever was behind this latest attack, it underscores concerns that Iraq remains too volatile to hold elections soon. Sunday's bombings were the third and fourth suicide attacks in Iraq in the past week, during which US officials have strengthened earlier claims that Al Qaeda agents may be at work inside the country. The US would like to appoint an unelected transitional government by June, but that is opposed by powerful Shiite clerics, who believe elections should be held as soon as possible.

The United Nations may send a team into Iraq as soon as this week to survey transition options, but with large numbers of the leaders of two politically significant groups killed at once, the vulnerability of potential polling places to similar attacks will be lost on no one. The attacks came as US Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz arrived in Baghdad to assess the security situation and watch the Super Bowl with troops.

"The Iraqi people will not be affected by this," said Muhi al-Khateeb, the secretary general for the US-appointed Governing Council. "We are going to continue building towards a new Iraq."

Nevertheless, the attacks may fuel growing Iraqi frustration over what is popularly perceived as a deteriorating security situation in the country. While many Iraqis express disgust at these sort of attacks, they are also quick to blame the US for not doing more to stop them.

Some Iraqis - and coalition officers - say that Al Qaeda-affiliated groups may be to blame for the attacks. Hasan Ghul, a Pakistani national who US officials say is a key Al Qaeda operative, was captured last Thursday in northern Iraq, near the Iranian boarder and not far from Irbil, which is about 200 miles north of Baghdad.

"For months I've been saying that Al Qaeda fingerprints have been here in Iraq. The capture of Guhl is pretty strong proof that Al Qaeda is trying to gain a foothold here to continue its murderous campaign," Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of US ground forces in Iraq, said in a press conference last week

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