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| Iraq crackdown 'doomed to fail' | |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Iraqi Shiite militia leader Moqtada al-Sadr has said the US-backed security crackdown in Baghdad is doomed to fail. | |
| Mr Sadr said in a statement that no security plan would work unless Iraq's government assumed full responsibility for protecting its citizens. | |
| His comments came as a series of bomb explosions hit Baghdad. | |
| In one, at least 42 people were killed and 55 injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to a college in the east of the city. | |
| Earlier, at least four people were hurt in a car bombing in the city's Karrada district, and one was killed in an explosion near the Iranian embassy. | |
| The attacks came a day after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said sectarian killings had fallen as a result of the US-backed security surge. | The attacks came a day after Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said sectarian killings had fallen as a result of the US-backed security surge. |
| Mr Sadr, whose militia controls the College of Administration and Economics, where most of Sunday's deaths occurred, once again called on the Americans to withdraw from Iraq. | |
| Victims attending exams | Victims attending exams |
| Most of the victims of the blast at the college were students, police and witnesses said. | |
| Many of the victims were young students | Many of the victims were young students |
| "There was an explosion. I did not feel anything for 15 minutes and when I returned to consciousness, I found myself in the hospital," Muhanad Nasir, a 22-year-old student, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency. | "There was an explosion. I did not feel anything for 15 minutes and when I returned to consciousness, I found myself in the hospital," Muhanad Nasir, a 22-year-old student, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency. |
| Higher Education Minister Abed Dhiab al-Uljaili said most of the victims were students who had gone to sit exams and that five guards were among the dead, AFP news agency reported. | Higher Education Minister Abed Dhiab al-Uljaili said most of the victims were students who had gone to sit exams and that five guards were among the dead, AFP news agency reported. |
| The agency said terrified parents converged on the scene, some collapsing in horror at the sight of blood and flesh at the entrance to the building. | The agency said terrified parents converged on the scene, some collapsing in horror at the sight of blood and flesh at the entrance to the building. |
| The college is part of the al-Mustansiriyah university, Baghdad's second largest, and had received threats warning it to close, the BBC's Jane Peel in Baghdad says. | The college is part of the al-Mustansiriyah university, Baghdad's second largest, and had received threats warning it to close, the BBC's Jane Peel in Baghdad says. |
| It is not the first time the university has been targeted. | It is not the first time the university has been targeted. |
| Last month, more than 100 students were killed in a co-ordinated attack involving two car bombs and a suicide bomber at the university's main building. | Last month, more than 100 students were killed in a co-ordinated attack involving two car bombs and a suicide bomber at the university's main building. |