Iraqi security official says US warned Iraq of car bombs ahead of last week’s blasts

Iraqi official: US warned of last week’s blasts

BAGHDAD — The former top military commander for Baghdad says the U.S. military warned Iraqi security officials of multiple car bomb attacks in the Iraqi capital hours before suicide bombers hit government sites.

Lt. Gen. Abboud Qanbar told lawmakers Sunday that Baghdad’s security command was warned by the U.S. military that insurgents would carry out three attacks, including one in or near the Green Zone.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki replaced Qanbar as Baghdad’s military commander after angry lawmakers demanded answers about security breaches that allowed Tuesday’s bombings that killed at least 127 people.

Qanbar was speaking during the third day of parliament grilling into the third massive attacks to hit government sites since August.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

BAGHDAD (AP) — A car packed with explosives blew up near a passing police patrol Sunday in western Iraq, killing at least two people but missing the security chief who was the apparent target, a police official said.

The blast in Fallujah killed at least two guards accompanying police Col. Saad al-Shimari, who was not harmed. At least seven people were injured, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to media.

Al-Shimari heads police operations in the Karmah area, which includes southern districts of Fallujah, a former insurgent stronghold about 40 miles (65 kilometers) west of Baghdad. He has survived several previous assassination attempts.

In central Iraq, police detained a leading member of Iraq’s largest Sunni political party, according to an official for the Salahuddin provincial council and a member of the local Iraqi Islamic Party branch. Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to make public comments.

Maj. Lee Peters, a U.S. military spokesman, could not immediately confirm the arrest.

They said Abdul Jabbar Shalash, head of Salahuddin’s branch of the Iraqi Islamic party, was in custody after authorities came to his home in Beiji, about 90 miles (145 kilometers) south of Mosul. There was no immediate word on possible charges or why authorities were holding Shalash.

Near the northern city of Mosul, a car bomb exploded next to a crowd of Iraqi army recruits, killing two people and injuring 19, said a Mosul police official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity. The attack occurred about three miles (seven kilometers) east of the city, which is considered the last major urban base for Sunni insurgents.