DATE=5/13/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=IRAQ ATTACK (S&L)
NUMBER=2-262324
BYLINE=LISA BRYANT
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:


INTRO:  Iraq says eight rockets exploded in Baghdad 
Saturday, killing a three-year-old girl and wounding 
four other civilians.  An Iraqi opposition group 
claimed responsibility for the attacks.  But from 
Cairo, Lisa Bryant reports that Baghdad is blaming 
Iran.


TEXT:  Iraqi officials say the rockets were fired 
early Saturday morning at a residential area of 
central Baghdad.  Several government offices are 
located in the area, along with foreign news agencies.  
Officials took reporters to the site of the attack, 
where two houses and a car had been damaged.

/// Opt for Long ///  Scenes of the destruction were 
recorded by the Qatari satellite channel, Al Jazeera.  
The television footage showed a damaged crib and holes 
in a wall of one building. /// End Opt ///

Killed in the attack was three-year-old Zahra Mohammed 
Hammeed.  Her relatives were treated for minor 
injuries at a nearby hospital.

An Iraqi dissident group, the Supreme Council for the 
Islamic Revolution in Iraq, claimed responsibility for 
the attack.  The group said it had targeted offices 
near Baghdad's presidential palace.

But the Iraqi news agency says Baghdad is blaming Iran 
for the attack.  It quoted an Iraqi official saying 
"Iranian agents" were responsible for the attack.

            /// Rest Opt for Long ///

The Supreme Council group is one of the largest Iraqi 
opposition organizations.  Its stated goal is to 
overthrow the government of President Saddam Hussein.  
The group has claimed responsibility for strikes 
against Iraqi troops in the south, and a 1989 attack 
on a government intelligence building in Baghdad.  The 
group is based in Iran.

Relations between Iraq and Iran remain tense since 
their eight-year war ended in 1988.  Dissident groups 
of both countries launch periodic cross-border raids.  
The most recent occurred earlier this month when an 
Iranian rebel group based in Iraq claimed 
responsibility for a mortar attack in Tehran.  On the 
same day, rockets were fired on Baghdad injuring eight 
people.  (SIGNED)

NEB/LB/DW/JP




13-May-2000 11:08 AM EDT (13-May-2000 1508 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.