Scores killed in Iraq bomb attack

Witnesses said a suicide bomber drove a car into a crowded market area, as men queued to join the police.

Dozens of people were also injured in the morning attack in Baquba, 65km (40 miles) north-east of Baghdad.

More than 160 Iraqis have been killed in attacks since the interim Iraqi government took power on 28 June.

In other violence:

seven Iraqi soldiers and 35 insurgents were killed in a joint multinational and Iraqi raid near the town of Suwariya, south of Baghdad

at least one person was killed in a rocket explosion on a busy street in Baghdad

an Iraqi policeman was shot dead in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk

on Tuesday night, one US soldier was killed and three wounded in a roadside bomb in Balad Ruz, north of Baghdad.

Burning wreckage

The latest attack was the worst since the 28 June transfer of power, and the bloodiest since a blast in the holy city of Najaf last August killed more than 80 people.

Among those killed in Wednesday's car bombing were 21 people travelling in a minibus, a health ministry official said.

"I saw a car overtake a minibus and it slammed right into the queue of people," said Riad Abdul Latif, an internal affairs officer at the police station, who was 100m away when the bomb went off.

Police said young men had come to the police station to join the force. Because of the number of applicants, some had to queue outside.

After the blast, police put the dead and wounded in the back of pick-up trucks and drove them to hospital.

Men used hoses to douse the burning wreckage at the scene. Several bodies were also on fire amid the debris in what correspondents said were horrific scenes.

"God bless them, what have they done?" shouted one man.

Security forces have been a frequent target of attacks by groups opposed to the new government and US-led forces. Baquba, a mixed Sunni and Shia Muslim town, has experienced many attacks.

"We are facing people who are fanatic," Iraq's Deputy Foreign Minister Labeed Abbawi told the BBC after the Baquba bombing.

"They will do anything to inflict heavy casualties on our people."

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A car packed with explosives has blown up at a marketplace north of Baghdad, killing 68 people and injuring 56.

The bomb exploded shortly after 10am (0600 GMT) on Wednesday close to a police station in the town of Baquba, 65km north of Baghdad.

"The hospital officials have told me that 68 were dead and 56
injured in the blast," said Iraqi interim Health Minister Alaa Abdisahib al-Alwan

Many among those killed were passengers in a minibus which happened to be nearby, our correspondent said.

There were also victims among policemen and new police recruits who had queued up nearby.

Investigation

The police station in the centre of the city had come under a car bomb attack three months ago.

The station building itself, protected by thick blast walls, was not damaged.

Major General Walid Khalid Abd Al-Salam , commander of police of Diyala province told Aljazeera an investigation was on into the blast. "We suspect the Ansar al-Islam and al-Zarqawi's al-Tawhid and al-Jihad group," he said.

Abd Al-Salam said the police had taken precautions against such an attack. But since the number of people seeking recruitment was high, they spilled out into the pavements. This increased the toll, he said.

People crowded at the city's hospital to identify relatives. Many were hysterical and asked, "Where is security? Where is the new Iraqi government?"

"The Iraqi police are on the scene and handling the situation, while US forces are providing support," a US military spokesman said.

Baquba, a mixed Sunni and Shia town has experienced frequent car-bombings and attacks over the past year.

Many of the attacks have targeted Iraqi police and National Guard officers regarded by the resistance as collaborators of the occupation force.

Conference

Meanwhile, Iraq has said a major national conference billed as a crucial next step on its road to democracy would begin on Saturday despite violence racking the country.

Organiser Fuad Masum said the conference due to be attended by about 1000 people would take place in Baghdad, even though the United Nations had requested a delay.

"Credibility is essential because any delay would be explained in a negative way," Masum said.

"So it has been decided that the conference will be held on 31 July for one day, or at the maximum for two days."

The United Nations which first proposed the conference in May and said it should be held before the end of July, had pushed in the past week for it to be postponed for several weeks to allow more time to prepare for such a large gathering.

The conference is supposed to bring together representatives from all walks of Iraqi life - religious, ethnic, political and otherwise - to select a 100-member National Council to act as a check on Iraq's interim government until elections in January.

Aljazeera + Agencies
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