September 5, 2003	Friday	Rajab 7, 1424

KIRKUK, Sept 4: Kurdish security forces have found a total of 1.2 tons of explosives packed in three rubbish skips, one left on a key bridge in the northern oil capital of Kirkuk, a senior investigator said Thursday.

The discovery followed the arrest Wednesday of three suspected members of Ansar al-Islam, a shadowy group linked by Washington to al-Qaeda, carrying suitcases filled with explosives in the city.

“The three confessed to packing three rubbish skips with 1,200 kilograms of explosives surrounded by metal fragments,” the investigator said.

“The first was intended to destroy the Third Bridge of Kirkuk. The other two, which were found mounted on lorries, were intended for a bombing in a Kirkuk public square and an assassination attempt against Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Jalal Talabani in Sulaimaniya,” his northern base.

The investigator said the attempted bombing campaign was linked to two massive car bombs which killed 22 people at UN headquarters in Baghdad and 125 people in Najaf. —AFP