Bombing Leaves Upscale Iraqi Neighborhood Deeply Shaken

[Tom Yossarian Joad]

Residents and business owners in the upscale Arasat neighborhood here, deeply shaken by a deadly car bomb that tore through a local restaurant late Wednesday night, began the depressing task today of cleaning up the debris and trying to restore order to their lives.

American officials said today that at least eight people died in the explosion, three more than first reported by Iraqi officials. The attack, which reduced much of the restaurant to rubble and damaged nearby buildings and several cars, seemed intended to strike at the ruling elite and foreign presence. The restaurant, once a popular spot for Baath Party officials, had become a familiar gathering place for expatriate diplomats, aid workers and journalists as well as upper-middle-class Iraqis.

Officials said that at least 24 people, including 3 Americans, had been wounded in the explosion at the Nabil Restaurant. It was the worst of a rash of bombings on Wednesday, confirming the fears of the American military authorities that insurgents would use the New Year's holiday as an occasion to mount attacks, as they did on Christmas Day.

Huge chunks of metal, presumably the remains of cars destroyed in the bombing, were scattered around the site. By late afternoon, the wreckage of one car, so charred that its original color was unrecognizable, remained on the side street where the car bomb had been detonated. Scraps of red flesh and body parts, including half a severed foot, littered the street.

More: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/01/international/middleeast/01CND-IRAQ.html?ex=1073624400&en=9e0f517b1578a07e&ei=5062&partner=GOOGLE