Al Qaeda Takes Credit For Bombing Of

Juan Cole 10/16/2003

Al-Qaeda Takes Credit for bombing of Baghdad Hotel

Guerrillas raked the front of the Baghdad Hotel with gunfire on Wednesday. It had been the target of a bomb on Sunday.

Al-Qaeda has claimed credit for that suicide bombing that targetted the Baghad Hotel, according to al-Asharq al-Awsat. Many US contractors are at the hotel, and the bombing does resemble one carried out in Jakarta recently.

In the meantime, International Institute for Strategic Studies in London issued a report arguing that the Iraq war has galvanized al-Qaeda and swollen its ranks with recruits.

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About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page