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Authorities question Iraqis in U.N. blastU.S. security official: Police investigate possibility of inside job
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- With the help of the FBI, authorities are pursuing a theory that this week's deadly blast at U.N. headquarters in Baghdad may have been an inside job, a top U.S. security official said Friday. Investigators have started questioning Iraqis who worked at the converted Canal Hotel that is used as U.N. headquarters, according to Bernard Kerik, a former New York police commissioner who is a senior adviser to the Iraqi Interior Ministry. "There are indeed concerns about some of the people who worked at the Canal Hotel" and their connections with Iraqi intelligence services during Saddam Hussein's regime, Kerik said. Under Saddam's rule, it was not uncommon for Iraqis who worked with foreigners to be associated with his intelligence services. Kerik said he was uncertain whether Sergio Vieira de Mello, the U.N. envoy killed in the attack, was the target of the blast. But he said that the bombing appeared to be timed and planned in such a way that Viera de Mello could have been targeted. The flatbed truck packed with explosives that rocked the building and killed at least 22 people was positioned near the envoy's office. (Vieira de Mello profile) U.S. Rep. Harold Ford, who was part of a congressional delegation visiting Iraq at the time of the attack, said it was premature to become suspicious about Iraqi involvement. "We need to be careful before we jump to these conclusions," the Tennessee Democrat said. "... We have problems even in our own intelligence community here in America, with people sometimes jumping ship and betraying our confidence. "I think the long-term goal has to be to shift as much authority as we can to the new [Iraqi] Governing Council after they create and ratify a constitution. A lot of our efforts have to be on involving more and more Iraqis to gain their confidence and ensure credibility in a new government." Authorities tracking down leads into the bombing said they suspect remnants of Saddam's regime, foreign terrorists or the al Qaeda-linked group Ansar al-Islam could have been responsible. Al Arabiya, the Arabic-language TV network, said it received a claim of responsibility for the bombing from a previously unknown group called the Armed Vanguards of the Second Muhammad Army. Its claim could not be confirmed. Tuesday's truck bomb attack was one of the worst incidents in the history of the United Nations. (Full story) At Baghdad airport Friday, a somber memorial service was held before Vieira de Mello's body was flown aboard a Brazilian air force jet to his homeland of Brazil. (Full story) Meanwhile, Marilyn Manuel, reported to have died in Tuesday's U.N. bombing, stunned her family Friday when she called to say she was fine. (Family's reaction)
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