Iraqi Insurgents Attack 'Green Zone' Area (US Baghdad zone)

[papau]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3352738,00.html

Iraqi Insurgents Attack 'Green Zone' Area

Wednesday November 5, 2003 7:01 PM
By SLOBODAN LEKIC Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Concrete blast walls topped with rolls of razor wire, sandbag bunkers and signs threatening "deadly force" surround the complex of palaces and other government buildings that are the heart of the U.S.-led occupation.

For Iraqi insurgents, the area, known as the "Green Zone," is ground zero. Gunners fired mortars at the zone after sunset Monday and Tuesday, wounding three people in the second attack.<snip>

However, firing at the heavily guarded compound along the west bank of the Tigris River has great psychological value for the insurgents. The explosions that thunder through the heart of Baghdad call into question U.S. claims that security is improving in the capital. <snip>

The 2-square-mile Green Zone offers many tempting targets. Apart from the Republican Palace, it includes the Baghdad Convention Center, which houses the military's media center, and the headquarters of the Iraqi Governing Council, the country's U.S.-appointed interim administration. The area also includes the Al-Rasheed Hotel, which was used by military and coalition civilian employees until a rocket attack Oct. 26 that killed a U.S. colonel and wounded 18 other people. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was in the hotel at the time, but escaped injury. <snip>