IRAQ: Al-Qaeda's wing in Iraq said yesterday it was behind a suicide car bomb attack that killed 125 people in the town of Hilla, according to a statement on the internet.
"A lion from our martyrdom brigade plunged into a gathering of apostates in front of a police and National Guard registration centre, blowing up his loaded car and killing 125 apostates," said the statement by the Al-Qaeda Organisation for Holy War in Iraq, posted on an Islamist website.
"The blood of the apostates was helping the Americans. They had sold their religion and their honour," it added.
The claim for Monday's attack could not be verified, but was posted in the name of the user who usually disseminates statements by al-Qaeda in Iraq. It appeared on the Islamist website most often used by Iraqi insurgents.
The suicide bomber detonated his vehicle near a crowd of people seeking jobs in the largely Shia southern town, killing 125 people and wounding 130.
Iraqi officials say Sunni insurgents, who view those who deal with the US-backed authorities as "infidels" and "apostates", are trying to ignite a sectarian civil war with attacks like the one in Hilla.
It was the single bloodiest attack since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. Police have begun an investigation into the attack.
A government statement said prime minister Iyad Allawi had declared today a national day of mourning for the Hilla blast victims and decided to give each family who lost relatives the equivalent of $1,000 in compensation.