Summary

NAME: BAG BLAST WP 141004N TAPE: EF04/1018 IN_TIME: 10:00:09:00 DURATION: 00:04:34:13 SOURCES: VARIOUS DATELINE: Various, 14 Oct 2004 RESTRICTIONS: SHOTLIST: APTN Baghdad, Iraq 1 Smoke rising after explosions in Green Zone Amateur video from mobile phone Baghdad, Iraq 2 Various of destruction in cafe after the blast APTN Baghdad, Iraq 3 SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Eyewitness to Green zone explosion: I entered the restaurant and I saw them sitting on the table Suddenly the workers of the restaurant came to us and told that two people were acting suspiciously so we called the US soldiers to check them One of the workers asked them about their nationality, he was told that they were Jordanian and not Iraqis After ten seconds of the arrival of the American troops the first explosion happened and followed by the second explosion in ten or fifteen seconds, I fell down, and I checked myself, and I was okay I saw the injured people being helped by the restaurant workers and then I saw the destruction around me CBS Baghdad, Iraq 4 SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Kaplow, Cox Newspapers Correspondent (relaying report he heard from witnesses at the cafe blast): They got their tea One of the men sat down and, they said, kept their hand on the table and their other hand in the bag, one of the bags And the other man spent most of his time, according to this witness standing next to him and talking to him very fervently about something that they said they didn't overhear But they said afterward they thought it was encouraging him, brainwashing up, coaxing him into blowing himself up After they were there, they said maybe even 20, 25 minutes, the man in the yellow shirt put one of the bags over his shoulder, walked out of the restaurant and a restaurant employee said the man was seen getting into a taxi A few minutes after that, they heard the blast at the bazaar a few hundred metres from there and people were just sort of taking that in when, according to them, the man who was sitting there blew up his bag APTN Baghdad, Iraq 5 Smoke rising after explosions in Green Zone CBS Baghdad, Iraq 6 SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Kaplow, Cox Newspapers Correspondent: But I've heard that one of the stories coming from the bazaar, is that the person, the bomber emerged from the taxi and soon after that the bomb went off, so that would match - you know witness accounts are always a little bit suspect because of all the adrenalin and excitement they are going through But that would match with the story we were hearing at the restaurant APTN Baghdad, Iraq 7 Smoke rising after explosions in Green Zone APTN Washington DC, US 8 SOUNDBITE (English) Richard Bouchner, US State Department Spokesman We also condemn these terrorist attacks, there is an effort that we are making to try and help the Iraqi people rebuild their country and it's another example of where there are terrorist who want to attack the Iraqis, who want to attack us, like anybody who is trying to establish opportunity and freedom for the Iraqi people,we know that is the situation there, there are people who know that they are serving in dangerous circumstances, but its obviously very sad and unfortunate when something happens to them, or frankly when something happens to the Iraqis, who we are working with in the Green Zone and elsewhere in the country APTN Baghdad, Iraq 9 Smoke rising STORYLINE Insurgents penetrated Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone and set off bombs at a market and a popular cafe on Thursday, killing five people, including four Americans, the US military said A US military statement said the two bombs appeared to have been hand carried into the zone And Iraqi national security adviser Qassem Dawoud said initial information indicated the attacks were a suicide operation If so, it would be the first time insurgents have successfully infiltrated and set off bombs in the Green Zone compound The attack raised fears over security in the country and underscored militants' ability to strike in the capital even as US-Iraqi forces step up military operations to suppress them in other parts of the country Iraq's most feared militant group, Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad, purportedly claimed responsibility for the bombings, according to a statement posted on a Web site known for its Islamic content APTN obtained footage of the attack's immediate aftermath that had been filmed from a mobile phone The man who filmed the scene, who wishes to remain anonymous, described the events leading up to the blast He said two men in the restaurant had been acting suspiciously before the attack A US journalist who visited the scene shortly afterwards said witnesses told him two men had gone into the cafe One of the men left in a taxi, and a blast was heard shortly afterwards, from the market, according to the journalist, Larry Kaplow of Cox newspapers The man who had stayed in the cafe then blew himself up, he said Other witnesses to the attack on the market said a man had got out of a taxi before detonating his device In Washington DC, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said security arrangements were put under immediate review but it was much too early to start speculating on whether they would be overhauled He called the bombings awful events and condemned the attacks Boucher said they were the work of terrorists but he did not have solid information on their identity