A bomb that exploded today at a Baghdad hotel housing journalists from US television network NBC has killed a guard.
The blast, which echoed across central Baghdad at dawn, shattered windows around the three-floor Aike Hotel, wounding some guests with flying glass.
Police said the bomb was placed on the pavement a few metres from the hotel and near a generator. The explosion left a crater about one metre wide and five centimetres deep in the concrete.
US officers said the bomb could have been a shaped charge designed to focus the blast in one direction, indicating a relatively sophisticated attack.
Mr Rutha al-Dahligi, who works at a nearby building site, said it was well known foreign journalists were at the hotel.
"Of course people know there are journalists in the hotel," he said. "There are lots of Americans in the area."
NBC television issued a statement saying "We are grateful that all of our NBC News employees are safe, and are saddened by the loss of life at the hotel," adding its media coverage of events in Iraq would continue.
On Monday, a suicide car bomber blew himself up close to the United Nations compound in Baghdad, also killing a security guard. Yesterday, a roadside bomb meant for a US convoy exploded as two civilian buses drove past, killing one Iraqi.
Last month, a suicide truck bombing at the United Nations compound killed 22 people. Attackers have also targeted the Jordanian embassy, and in July British journalist Richard Wild was shot dead by a gunman in central Baghdad.
Guerrilla attacks have killed 79 US soldiers in Iraq since Washington declared major combat over on May 1st.