Search continues for UN bodies

Many more bodies are believed to be buried in the rubble of the devastated UN headquarters in Baghdad after it was hit by a truck bomb that killed at least 20 people, Iraq's Governing Council said today.

"There are 20 dead and there are many believed still trapped in there," Ahmad Chalabi told reporters after the 25-member Council held a meeting with US governor Paul Bremer.

Speaking for the US-backed Council, he pointed the finger at deposed President Saddam Hussein's followers, saying: "We have no doubt that those who carried out this terrorist criminal act are the remnants of the regime and their friends."

The top UN envoy to Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello, was among those killed in Tuesday's suspected suicide bombing, the most devastating attack on a UN civilian complex in the world body's 58-year history.

No group has claimed responsibility.

More than 100 people were wounded in the strike which came a day after Bremer, a counter-terrorism expert, said fighters from Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network were operating in Iraq.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said UN staff would remain in Iraq despite the bomb attack.

"We will continue our work...We will persevere, we have work to do," he said in Stockholm. "We will not be intimidated."

Many of the wounded were being evacuated from Iraq.

FBI investigators and US forensic teams scoured the rubble today for clues about those behind the attack.

Turkey said it was sending rescue workers and sniffer dogs to neighbouring Iraq to help search for possible survivors.

It was the second major bomb attack in Baghdad this month. Two weeks ago a truck bomb wrecked Jordan's embassy, killing 17 people. No one has claimed responsibility.

Most watched News videos