Baghdad blast targets US media

The bomb went off in a hotel complex housing foreign journalists

A bomb has exploded in a hotel complex where US television network NBC has offices in the centre of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

At least one person, a Somali security guard, has been killed and two others wounded in the explosion which occurred at the Aike Hotel.

Iraqi police said a bomb had been placed in a hut that housed the hotel generator.

It is the first time Western media in Iraq has been specifically targeted since the war to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

The blast comes a day after an explosion ripped through a cinema in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, killing two people and injuring up to 20 others.

Another bomb attack on the same day destroyed two commuter buses in central Baghdad, killing one Iraqi and injuring 22 others.

Crater

The blast happened at 0655 local time (0355 GMT), according to reports from the scene.

If it was a big bomb it would have destroyed the whole building Lt Col Salman Kareem, Iraqi police

About a dozen NBC staff were inside the building at the time, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Canadian soundman David Moodie was hurt by flying glass.

""I was awake," he said, "A chest of drawers in the room fell on me. I sleep in the room immediately above the generator, so I guess I was lucky."

One correspondent said the bomb left a crater in the side of the building, but Iraqi police Lieutenant Colonel Salman Kareem said damage was minimal.

"It was a small bomb, because if it was a big bomb it would have destroyed the whole building."

Safety fears

The BBC's Jill McGivering, who is in the Iraqi capital, says the latest attack is likely to heighten the concerns of Western journalists in Iraq about their safety.

The attack, she says, is also the latest sign of an apparent change of tactics among those hostile to the coalition and determined to use violence to undermine its authority.

As well as targeting coalition troops, they are now also increasingly choosing non-military targets for attack, our correspondent says.

Last month, a massive bomb at the United Nations headquarters building killed 22 people, including the head of mission.

The badly damaged UN building was again targeted this week in a second bombing, causing UN officials to review their presence in the country.