Iraqi president condemns Baghdad blast

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraqi President Jalal Talabani’s office on Sunday denounced the suicide bombing attack that targeted a Shiite shrine in the city of al-Kadhemiya, where 114 pilgrims, mostly Iranians, were killed or wounded. The attack coincides with a visit currently being paid by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to Tehran. “The attack that killed or wounded innocent civilians in the holy city of al-Kadhemiya is a heinous terrorist crime,” according to a presidential statement received by IraqiNews.com. Earlier, the Baghdad Operations Command said that casualties from the suicide bombing that ripped through an Iraqi checkpoint in Baghdad’s al-Kadhemiya area have reached 114. “The final toll from the Kadhemiya blast is 35 dead and 79 wounded,” said BOC spokesman Maj. General Qassem Atta. Atta had said that a woman wearing an explosives belt blew herself up at a joint army-police checkpoint in Kadhemiya, northern Baghdad. “The sinful terrorism is targeting this secure and holy area in an attempt to shake Iraqi’s confidence in the security agencies’ capabilities,” read the presidential statement. AmR (P) 1