Bombers will not deter us - Straw

Iraqis seen to be collaborating with the coalition are being targeted

The latest bomb attacks in Iraq will not stop the UK and US from trying to restore stability to the country, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has said.

More than 100 people have died in two car bomb blasts in Iraq in the last two days - many of them Iraqis.

Mr Straw said the bombers "clearly care nothing for the people of Iraq".

"We will not let the terrorists succeed in deterring us from working together to build a stable and democratic Iraq with proper rule of law," he said.

At least 46 people were reported dead in an attack on Wednesday outside an army recruiting centre in Baghdad.

It followed the bombing on Tuesday of a police station in Iskandariyah which left up to 53 dead.

Mr Straw said in a statement that the perpetrators "callously targeted those Iraqis who wanted to serve their countrymen and work to build a safer future for all".

"My sympathies are with the friends and families of those who lost their lives," he said.

The US military has said it suspects al-Qaeda or its affiliate group in Iraq, Ansar al-Islam, and accused them of wanting to start a civil war in Iraq.

The BBC's Barbara Plett, in Baghdad, said there had been a pattern of attacks against Iraqis who were seen as collaborating with the occupation authorities.

"It's an apparent attempt to isolate the coalition forces and prevent them from handing over power to their Iraqi allies."