29 January 2004	Thursday	06 Zilhaj 1424

BAGHDAD, Jan 28: Killings continued in Iraq on Wednesday as six people died in a suicide blast at a minister's Baghdad hotel. The powerful bomb, said to have been hidden in an ambulance , destroyed part of the Shahine hotel and a police station in an upmarket central district of Baghdad at dawn.

"Five Iraqis, (plus) the driver of the van were killed," a spokesman said, adding that between 200 kilograms and 250 kilograms of explosives were used in the attack.

According to foreign ministry official in Pretoria, a South African man was among the dead. Much of the hotel, a base for foreign businessmen and a South African security firm protecting oil installations in northern Iraq, was used by interim Iraqi labour minister Sami Azara al Majun, said security officials.

The minister quickly blamed the attack on members of Baath party, saying: "I get threats nearly every day." Lieutenant Hussein Ali, the chief of police patrols in the Karrada district, said the bomb was concealed inside an ambulance that drove up to the hotel at high speed.

Black smoke was seen pouring from the hotel as dazed guests emptied onto the street in their pyjamas, some with their luggage. Hotel owner Hamud Ismail said he was threatened three months ago. "There are Jews and Americans in your hotel. Get rid of them," said a letter. But he had taken no extra security measures.

The explosion came less than a day after the United Nations announced it was returning staff to Iraq to study the feasibility of swift elections provided the occupation authority can take adequate measures to assure security.-AFP