BAGHDAD June 26: At least 17 people were killed and 40 wounded in Hilla on Saturday as a powerful car bomb ripped through the centre of the Iraqi city.

The Coalition Provisional Authority blamed Jordanian-born Abu Musab al Zarqawi for the bloodbath four days before Wednesday's transfer of power.

Occupation forces have bombed the guerilla stronghold of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, on three separate days in the past week in an attempt to kill Zarqawi, the alleged Al Qaeda chief for Iraq, and his followers.

Brig Gen Mark Kimmitt of the US Army said commanders believed they might have come close to Zarqawi in the latest raid on Friday, which he said killed 15 people, and he appealed to ordinary Iraqis for information on the militant.

But he acknowledged that Zarqawi, while being the US forces' "number one target" in Iraq, was not the sole source of the attacks.

"Even if we were to catch or kill Zarqawi tomorrow there would still be residual violence," Gen Kimmitt told reporters.

Washington blames Zarqawi for at least 30 attacks in Iraq, including a bombing rampage in March that killed more than 170 people during Muharram and the beheading of an American, as well as the South Korean hostage.

"There is a 10-million-dollar reward out for any information that would lead to help putting Mr Zarqawi out of business," CPA spokesman Dan Senor reminded reporters at a news conference.

Earlier on Saturday, Iraqi political parties were targeted as guerillas launched two attacks in the volatile city of Baquba and one in northern Kurdistan.

Prime minister Iyad Allawi's local headquarters in Baquba was blown up, while armed combatants stormed a Shia party's office in the city and a car bomb targeted a top Kurdish politician in the northern city of Arbil.-AFP