Al-Qaida group claims hotel blasts in Baghdad

An al-Qaida front groupin Iraq claimed Wednesday it carried out the deadly bombings againstBaghdad hotels earlier this week, boasting its suicide car bombers wereable to breach extensive Iraqi security.

The same group, theIslamic State of Iraq, has claimed responsibility for three previouswaves of coordinated bombings in Baghdad going back to August. Theattacks have hit government offices or high-profile sites in the Iraqicapital.

In a statement posted Wednesday on a Web site,the al-Qaida group claimed responsibility for the triple suicide blastson Monday that targeted three hotels favored by Western journalists andsecurity contractors. At least 41 people were killed

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