BAGHDAD, Dec 6: Thirty-six Iraqi police and cadets were killed in a double suicide bombing in Baghdad on Tuesday as insurgents claimed to have kidnapped an American amid escalating violence nine days before key elections. The massive blasts — on the same day that eight other Iraqi security personnel were killed in violence across the country — came as the trial of ex-dictator Saddam Hussein continued with dramatic witness testimony.

The bombing at the Baghdad police academy was the worst attack on Iraqi security forces in weeks and exacerbated concerns about security ahead of elections for a permanent parliament.

Police said at least 36 officers and students were killed, with 72 other people wounded. Among those hurt was a US contractor.

An Internet statement in the name of Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s Al Qaeda in Iraq claimed responsibility.

The statement, whose authenticity could not be verified, said two brothers blew themselves up, charging “the glory of religion does not come from the ballot box” in an ominous reference to the Dec 15 election.

The group alleged that the academy gave “diplomas to dogs who spill the blood of and maul the bodies of Sunnis,” suggesting a sectarian motive behind the attack.

The Qatar-based satellite television showed a videotape of a blond man, his arms behind his back, seated on a white plastic chair, and the cover of a US passport and a bank account card with the name Ronald Schulz.

The Islamic Army in Iraq has claimed several kidnappings and murders and reportedly threatened to kill the American unless all prisoners are released and compensation is paid to the of Al-Anbar.

Meanwhile, the Middle East Council of Churches and the International Islamic Forum for Dialogue issued a joint statement appealing for the release of two Canadians, a Briton and an American working for Christian Peacemaker Teams.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, meanwhile, promised US assistance in seeking the freedom of a German woman taken hostage, and the French embassy said it was working for the release of a Frenchman.

South of Baghdad, police uncovered nine bodies of civilians shot dead near a Shia town, as 11 Iraqis, eight of them from the security services, died in other shootings and ambushes.

—AFP