IRAQ: At least 10 rockets detonated in central Baghdad last night near an area that houses the headquarters of the US-led coalition.
Sirens blared for several minutes and smoke and flames were briefly visible on the skyline, but there were no reports of casualties.
Iraqi police and witnesses said the Katyusha rockets were fired in the direction of the Baghdad Convention Centre, a major coalition building, and the al-Rasheed Hotel, where many coalition staff members stay. A short time later, the vehicle from which the rockets were fired exploded.
The vehicle, a white Toyota Land Cruiser, was parked near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The building was partly renovated after being looted and set ablaze in the lawlessness that engulfed Baghdad following the fall of the capital on April 9th last.
The rockets struck on the northern edge of the Green Zone, which houses the coalition headquarters. Inside this zone, employees at the Baghdad Convention Centre, where the US military press office is based, fled into the basement, said Army 1st Sgt Stephen Valley, a military spokesman.
"Everyone's OK. Everyone's been accounted for," he said.
The blasts came as Shia politicians who had delayed the signing of Iraq's interim constitution said they would sign the document without changes today.
Five Shia members of the Iraqi Governing Council met Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani at his home in the holy city of Najaf to discuss how to resolve the impasse over the constitution.
The five had refused to sign it on Friday because of Ayatollah al-Sistani's objections, angering other members, some of whom saw the move as a Shia attempt to grab more power. Sunni and Kurd council members refused to change the charter.
After the Najaf talks, it appeared the Shias were backing down in their refusal.
"Sistani has reservations, but it will not constitute an obstacle," said Mohammed Hussein Bahr al-Ulloum, who helped co-ordinate the talks on behalf of his father, council president Mohammed Bahr al-Ulloum.
"It will be signed as it was agreed upon before by the governing council members," the son said. - (AP)