Two Britons in Iraq consulate convoy killed in bomb attack

A roadside bomb hit a British consulate convoy in Iraq's southern city of Basra on Saturday, killing two security uards, while at least five died in a car bomb explosion in Baghdad.

The attack on the British consulate convoy took place at about 9:30 a.m. (0530 GMT) as the convoy was passing through the southwestern part of the city, the Dubai-based al-Arabiyah TV channel reported.

The two victims were security contractors working for the British security firm Control Risks Group. Their nationalities were not immediately known, the channel added.

The British Embassy in Baghdad said it was investigating the incident in Basra, some 550 km south of Baghdad. It did not reveal further details.

A rarely-known Iraqi insurgent group later claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted at a website.

"Thanks be to God -- this morning ... an attack with an explosive device was carried out on a British convoy, killing two Britons," said the group calling itself the Imam Hussein Brigades.

Its authenticity could not be verified.

In Baghdad, insurgents kept up pressure on security forces in their drive to topple the US-backed government. A suicide bomber in a car attacked a police checkpoint, killing at least five people, said police sources.

Meanwhile, the death toll from a suicide bombing in northern Iraq on Friday climbed to 40, police said on Saturday.

A suicide bomber blew himself up among a group of Iraqi army recruits outside a municipal building in Rabia, a town 80 km northwest of Mosul. They said the number of the wounded in the attack has risen to 57.

In another development, lawyers for Saddam Hussein said in their office in the Jordanian capital of Amman Sunday that their client was attacked by an unidentified man during a court appearance in Baghdad this week.

A statement issued by Saddam's legal team said the former president was attacked during a hearing attended by his main lawyer, Khalil Dulaimi, on Thursday.

"As the president (Saddam) stood to leave the courtroom, one of those present attacked him and there was an exchange of blows between the man and the president," the statement said.

The head of the tribunal did nothing to stop the assault, it added. The statement did not say if Saddam was hurt.

The allegation was immediately turned down by the US forces guarding the ex-president. A spokeswoman for the US military unit charged with overseeing the custody of prisoners, including Saddam, said no such incident ever happened.

"Nothing like that happened with Saddam whatsoever," Lieutenant Kristy Miller said.

The defense team, retained by Saddam's family, said it would boycott the tribunal until Saddam was given the right to proper legal representation by a team of international lawyers.

It held the US military responsible for any harm to the former Iraqi leader and demanded safeguards for his protection.

Source: Xinhua