'Al-Qaida-linked front in Iraq claims Baqouba bicycle suicide bombing'

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
An al-Qaida-linked insurgent group in Iraq claimed in an Internet posting Tuesday it was behind a suicide bike bombing on police recruits northeast of Baghdad, the US-based SITE Intelligence Group said. The US group, which monitors militant messaging traffic, said that a statement by the Islamic State of Iraq described the Monday bombing as having been carried out by a mujahedeen wearing a suicide belt and riding a bomb-laden motorcycle. The militants' statement said the attack resulted in the death of as many as 40 members of the Iraqi National Guard, SITE reported. Iraqi police and hospital officials had said the bomber killed at least 29 people when he rode a bicycle into a crowd of police recruits in Baqouba, the capital of Diyala province 56 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Baghdad.