US opens biggest embassy worldwide in Baghdad's Green Zone (Roundup)

Jan 5, 2009, 14:50 GMT

Baghdad - The United States opened its largest embassy worldwide in Baghdad's Green Zone on Monday, while a series of six explosions ripped through Baghdad killing one and injuring 27 amidst events surrounding the commemoration of Muslim holidays.

At the inauguration, Iraqi President Jalal al-Talabani said the US embassy in Baghdad was 'not only a US government headquarters, but an expression of amity between the governments and people of the two countries,' the Voices of Iraq news agency reported.

Also attending the ceremony were US Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte, US ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and several US military officials.

Opened amid heavy security, the embassy compound is also said to be the most expensive embassy that the US has ever built.

Critics of the US military presence in Iraq see the complex as a 'symbol of occupation.'

On Thursday January 1, US forces handed over control of the fortified Green Zone to Iraqi authorities, five years after the US- led invasion of the country.

The US also returned late dictator Saddam Hussein's palace, which had been the US headquarters in the city.

The so-called Green Zone is a fortified base for Western private military contractors, and is home to the Iraqi parliament and government, as well as US, British and Australian embassies.

Parallel to the inauguration events, Iraq continued to be rocked by violence, with half a dozen blasts in Baghdad inflicting further casualties.

In one blast, a roadside bomb planted near a playground in Baghdad's Zayouna area killed one civilian and wounded six others.

Another five civilians were wounded in a car bomb explosion in southern Baghdad, a police source said.

'A car rigged with explosives went off in Abu Dashier region in southern Baghdad, injuring five civilians,' the source told VOI, giving no further details.

Another bomb went off near a gas station in eastern Baghdad, wounding four persons, the source said

Yet another explosion took place in downtown Baghdad when a bomb was detonated in al-Nidal street. Four civilians were wounded.

Meanwhile, eight persons were wounded when two roadside bombs detonated near Rasheed Camp in the area between Uqba Bin Nafie Square and al-Mashn commercial mall in south-eastern Baghdad.

Shiite pilgrims have been a repeated target of extremist Sunni Muslim groups operating in Iraq, during their annual commemoration of the 10-day ritual of Ashoura, which culminates with the mourning of the martyrdom of Imam Hussein Ibn Ali at the battle of Karbala.

A female suicide bomber blew herself up on Sunday, killing at least 40 people and wounding 79 in the Kadhimiya area of northern Baghdad. Many of the victims were Iranian pilgrims.