iraq ## situation deteriorating

"Iraq tries to crack down, rebels reply with bombs

Brazen Baghdad attacks coincide with announcement of sweeping security law

By PATRICK MARTIN
With a report from Associated Press
Thursday, July 8, 2004

IN BAGHDAD -- Iraqi insurgents wasted no time yesterday letting Prime Minister Iyad Allawi know what they thought of his powerful new National Security Law.

Just as Justice Minister Malek al-Hassan was about to announce a measure giving Mr. Allawi extraordinary martial-law powers, militants launched a series of attacks across the capital.

The brazen daylight raids, a rarity in central Baghdad, included a rocket attack against Mr. Allawi's home and party headquarters, a shoot-out with U.S. and Iraqi forces on a busy downtown street, the shelling of a health clinic in suburban Dora and an attempted car bombing in a bustling downtown commercial district. The car, a 1991 Oldsmobile that reportedly contained 750 kilograms of explosives, was disarmed.

There were also reports of mortar shells landing in the fortified Green Zone that houses the government and the U.S. embassy, and another report of an explosion at the airport.

Four Iraqis were reported killed, including a police officer and a soldier, and more than 20 people were wounded."

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