Locals walk through the wreckage left by a car bomb which exploded next to a convoy of American military vehicles in the northern town of Mosul in Iraq Monday, Feb. 28, 2005, though it was unclear if there were any casualties. (Photo: AP)

A video image shows Iraqis standing in debris and rising smoke February 28, 2005 following a suicide car bomb south of Baghdad. The attack near a crowded marketplace in Hilla killed 115 people and wounded 148 in the single bloodiest attack in Iraq  since the fall of Saddam Hussein. (Photo: Reuters)

A security officer hold his gun as other Iraqis stand close to the blood stained street following a car bomb, in the southern city of Hilla, the capital of Babylon province, 100 kms south of Baghdad. A suicide bomber killed 114 people and wounded scores more when he blew up his car in the middle of a crowd outside a health clinic in central Iraq, in one of the deadliest attacks since the US-led invasion two years ago. (Photo: AFP)

    BAGHDAD, Feb. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- In what appeared to be the deadliest single attack after the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, a suicide car bomber killed at least 115 government job hopefuls on Monday.

   The attack dealt a heavy blow to the interim government, which hailed as a victory the capture of Sabawi Ibrahim al-Hassan, a half-brother of Saddam and suspected key coordinator of insurgency in Iraq.

   More than 200 others were wounded in the powerful bombing, which rattled Hilla, some 100 km south of Baghdad, a spokeswoman for the Iraqi Red Crescent told Xinhua.

   Ambulances and medical equipment were called in from Baghdad due to a sudden shortage of emergency stuff after the blast, she noted.

   The explosive-laden vehicle ran into a large crowd of people who were lining in front of a health center for physical checkup to work for the state, said Adnan Abdul-Rahman, spokesman for the Interior Ministry.

   The bomb was detonated around 9:30 a.m. (0630 GMT) when the street was also packed with passers-by, he added. Wreckage and human parts bestrewed the area and the street was sprayed with blood.

   It remained unclear how many among the victims were would-be police recruits or civil servants, both of whom came under frequent attacks by insurgents.

   Hilla, a mainly Shiite city, is the capital of Babil Province, situated within the notorious "death triangle", where rebels were among the most active in Iraq.

   Police there often join the US-led multinational forces in raiding rebel hide-outs along the Euphrates river across the triangle.

   VIOLENCE SWEEPS ACROSS IRAQ

   In a separate event, another suicide bomb ripped through an Iraqi police convoy in Latifiya, a restive town north of Hilla, killing one police officer and wounding four others, Abdul-Rahman told Xinhua.

   A third policeman was killed early Monday in Mussayib in the same area by a home-made bomb.

   Explosions also echoed in Baghdad throughout the day.

   Insurgents have frequently attacked Iraq's fledgling security forces and civilians who work with the US-backed interim
government, accusing them of collaborating with the occupation forces.

   A US soldier manning a checkpoint in Baghdad was killed late Sunday, the US military said Monday, bringing to at least 1,485 the US military death toll in Iraq since the 2003 invasion.

   SYRIA HELPS CAPTURE SADDAM BROTHER

   Reports surfaced Monday that Syria played a significant role in detaining and handing over Sabawi, Saddam's half-brother who was accused of financing and directing insurgent attacks in Iraq.

   "Syria played a central role in arresting Sabawi outside Iraqi and turning him over to the American forces three days ago," Al Furat Daily quoted government sources as saying.

   The independent paper said the move reflected the Syrian wish to lessen the pressure by Washington, which has repeatedly accused Damascus of sponsoring terrorism.

   The US-backed Iraqi interim government blamed Sabawi for killings and explosions across Iraq.

   In a statement issued on Sunday, the government said Sabawi had been involved in "plotting, financing and supervising terrorist attacks in Iraq."

   But the government declined to give any details about the capture, only saying the Iraqi security forces arrested him in "a planned operation".

   Local reports said Sabawi was caught by Syrian Kurds, who were given a green light by the Syrian government to hand him over to Iraqi Kurds, and was finally transferred to the Iraqi authority on Syrian borders.

   Sabawi, with a one-million-dollar bounty on his head, was NO. 36 on the US list of 55 most wanted ex-Iraqi officials.

   Born to the same mother with Saddam, Sabawi used to be Saddam's intelligence chief and presidential advisor.

   The capture of Sabawi came after the Iraqi forces nabbed a number of cell leaders, including some linked to al-Qaida ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and many of the detainees were said to have admitted Syrian role in training and sheltering insurgents.

   Hazim al-Shaalan, the interim defense minister, said he believed the Iraqi forces were "closing in upon Zarqawi", the top enemy in Iraq who has purportedly claimed many lethal attacks and hostage beheadings. 

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