A car bomb went off in central Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 19 people and wounding 46, police and hospital officials said. The bomb exploded at 2 p.m. in the Sinak commercial district on the east side of the Tigris River.
Earlier, a fierce battled raged Monday in central Baghdad after gunmen hijacked Monday two buses and kidnapped at least 15 passengers, police said. At least three policemen died and four were injured, authorities said.
According to the AP, the small buses where traveling through the Fadhil neighborhood, a Sunni enclave in central Baghdad, when they were attacked by unidentified gunmen in three cars at 10:15 a.m.
The attackers then abducted at least 15 passengers and took them to a nearby abandoned government building, a police officer said. The buses were heading from Baghdad's central Bab al-Mudham bus station to the city's eastern Shiite neighborhoods.
The fighting started when Iraqi security forces reached the scene some 30 minutes later, police said. According to Iraqi police, at least two American helicopters were hovering overhead and U.S. forces had taken up positions near the fighting.
Meanwhile, the United States ambassador in Baghdad said he and his Iranian counterpart agreed broadly on policy toward Iraq during four-hour groundbreaking talks on Monday, but insisted that Iran end its support for militants.
Iran and the United States resumed public diplomacy Monday for the first time in more than a quarter century. Iraqi officials said the meeting between U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker and Iranian Ambassador Hassan Kazemi Qomi was cordial and focused solely on Iraq.
"There are good intentions and understanding and commitment between the two countries," Ali al-Dabagh, an Iraqi government spokesman, told reporters. The talks were held at Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's office in the Green Zone compound in Baghdad. Iraq was being represented at the talks by National Security Adviser Mowaffak al-Rubaie.
Just before 10:30 a.m., al-Maliki greeted the two ambassadors, who shook hands, and led them into a conference room, where the ambassadors sat across the table from each other. Al-Maliki then made a brief statement and left the room.
He told both sides that Iraqis want a stable country free of foreign forces and regional interference. Iraq should not be turned into a base for terrorist groups, he said. According to him, the U.S.-led forces in Iraq were only here to help build up the army and police and the country would not be used as a launching ground for a U.S. attack on a neighbor. "We are sure that securing progress in this meeting would, without doubt, enhance the bridges of trust between the two countries and create a positive atmosphere" that would help them deal with other issues, he said.
Speaking in Tehran, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Monday the talks could lead to future meetings, but only if Washington acknowledges that its Middle East policy has not been successful. "We are hopeful that Washington's realistic approach to the current issues of Iraq by confessing its failed policy in Iraq and the region and by showing a determination to changing the policy guarantees success of the talks and possible further talks," Mottaki said.
