BAGHDAD, Oct. 30 (Xinhuanet) -- A militant group claimed on Saturday responsibility for a car bomb attack on Al-Arabiya news channel's office building in Baghdad, the group said in a statement.

    The statement identified the movement as "1920 Brigades," which also claimed to have kidnapped a Sudanese translator working with a US company.

    It said that the group was acting for the sake of the God to bring down the office building used by the "treacherous network," referring to a powerful explosion which killed seven people working with Al-Arabiya.

    The facade of the building was deformed and around 30 vehicles were damaged in the blast, which took place around 15:10 pm (1210GMT) in Mansour neighborhood in western Baghdad.

    It was the first time that a popular Arabic-language media organization was targeted in car bombings, favored by insurgents towage attacks against US forces in Iraq and their collaborators. Based in Dubai and a sister news channel of the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera, Al-Arabiya has broadcast purported videos and statements from militant groups, and from former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terror network. Al-Arabiya had been temporarily banned by the Iraqi authority from covering news in Iraq.

    However, the Saudi-funded channel has been more cooperative with the interim government led by Iyad Allawi, especially since he visited Saudi Arabia earlier this year. Enditem