Iraqi security in the spotlight

The bombs went off near the Baghdad governorate headquarters and the ministry of justice

By Gabriel Gatehouse
BBC News, Baghdad

The arrest of more than 60 members of the Iraqi security forces in connection with the double suicide bombing in Baghdad has reinforced what many in Iraq already suspect - that the police and the army are open to pressure and infiltration.

Security officials in Baghdad said the detainees included the commanders of 15 checkpoints around the site of the blasts. Some of those being questioned are senior officers.

The blasts took place in the administrative centre of the Iraqi capital, notionally one of the most highly protected areas in the country.

The question is: how did two car-bombs of such magnitude slip through the security cordon.

Sunday's attack was one of the deadliest in Iraq since the 2003 invasion. But it is not the first time this year that government buildings have been hit.

We have concrete evidence the same people carried out the August bombing. Hoshyar Zebari, Iraqi Foreign Minister

On 19 August 2009, two truck bombs targeting the Foreign and Finance Ministries killed nearly 100 people.

The Iraqi government is compiling a dossier to present to the United Nations, which it says includes evidence of Syria's role in supporting and providing refuge to the Saddam Hussein loyalists and members of al-Qaeda that they suspect are behind the attacks.

Syria has denied the accusation, but Iraq's Foreign Minister says he is in no doubt.

"We have very solid, concrete evidence," Hoshyar Zebari told the BBC. "The same people, the same networks that carried out the August bombing, it is the same perpetrators who carried out the Sunday 25th (October) bombing."

The attacks raise serious questions now about the Pentagon's timetable for withdrawal.

The US force in Iraq is still 120,000 strong. But the current plan foresees all combat troops leaving the country by the end of August next year, in preparation for a full military withdrawal by the end of 2011.

"We are committed to the timetable of the withdrawal," Mr Zebari said. "But we need to maintain a reasonable level of security and stability. Otherwise it may impact on their withdrawal plans, they could be modified."

The Foreign Minister called for more engagement from the US in the aftermath of the attacks, nearly four months after US forces handed over control of security in urban areas to Iraqi forces.

"The Americans cannot just wash their hands and say we are no longer engaged or interested," he said.

"From now until 2011 I think Iraq is going through some very serious challenges. Iraq is not yesterday's story. It is today's story, for everybody."