The Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) issued a statement on a jihadist forum saying it carried out the string of car bombings on Tuesday at ministries and courthouses that also wounded around 450 people, SITE said.

"The list of targets will not end, with permission from Allah, until the flag of monotheism is raised once against on the land of Baghdad and the sharia of Allah rules the land and the worshippers," their statement threatened.

The Search for International Terrorist Entities (SITE) Intelligence Group is a US-based organization that monitors extremist websites.

Iraq PM sacks Baghdad security chief over blasts
Baghdad (AFP) Dec 9, 2009 - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki sacked Baghdad's security chief on Wednesday after attacks which killed 127 people, with police charging that the bombers were backed by groups in Syria or Saudi Arabia.

Maliki's intervention came as enraged MPs demanded answers from the country's leaders over the blasts, which accounted for more dead than the total number killed by violence in all of November, and undermined the government's claims of improved security ahead of March 7 elections.

"Nuri al-Maliki, as the commander in chief of the armed forces, ordered the removal of Lieutenant General Abboud Qanbar from his post," a statement from the premier's office said.

Lieutenant General Ahmed Hashem Awoudeh will move up to Qanbar's position, while Qanbar will be shifted to Awoudeh's post as deputy army chief of staff.

A senior policeman, meanwhile, said the explosives used in the attacks, which also wounded around 450 people and have been blamed on Al-Qaeda, were manufactured abroad and that the bombers were backed by groups in Syria or Saudi Arabia.

"This material could not have been manufactured in Baghdad, it came from abroad," Major General Jihad al-Jaabiri, the explosives unit chief told reporters.

"Neighbouring countries helped them. The operation required lots of funding, which came from Syria or Saudi Arabia."

Jaabari said Al-Qaeda and backers of the Baath party of executed dictator Saddam Hussein were behind the blasts.

Security was beefed up at checkpoints across Baghdad on Wednesday although roads were reopened after being shut in the wake of the five coordinated attacks.

Maliki, who has been sharply criticised by politicians since the bombings, appealed in a televised address for unity among Iraqi leaders.

"I call (on all politicians) ... to avoid using these disasters to create conflicts during the election campaign because if the temple falls, it falls on everyone, and no one will be spared," he said.

However, lawmakers demanded that Maliki and his ministers answer for any failings that led to the attacks.

"MPs are angry, and the people are even more angry," Mahmud Othman, an influential independent Kurdish MP, told AFP.

"We want to know what is going on. What is the security plan? Have they revised the plans since the explosions in August and October? What are the results of their investigations?

"Why do these explosions keep happening?"

As if to underline Othman's concerns, a roadside bomb in the predominantly Sunni northern Baghdad district of Adhamiyah killed two people and wounded seven on Wednesday, an interior ministry official said.

Also in Adhamiyah, a sniper killed a policeman and a bomb hidden inside a minibus exploded, killing two people and wounding 11.

In Mahmudiyah, an ethnically mixed town just south of Baghdad, another bomb concealed inside a minibus killed three people and injured eight.

Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani, whose department is responsible for the police, welcomed being questioned by MPs over the attacks.

The bombs all exploded within minutes of each other on Tuesday morning.

One suicide attacker detonated his payload at a finance ministry office, another struck at a tunnel leading to the labour ministry and a third drove a four-wheel-drive car into a courthouse.

A fourth in a car struck a police patrol in Dora in south Baghdad, while a car bomb hit interior ministry offices in the city centre.

Maliki called the attacks a "cowardly" attempt "to cause chaos ... and hinder the election," and said they were deliberately timed to come after MPs agreed on a new electoral law on Sunday.

He blamed "foreign elements" who backed Al-Qaeda. In August and October, the group carried out bloody coordinated vehicle bombings against government buildings in Baghdad, puncturing confidence in the security forces.

Violence across Iraq dropped dramatically last month, with the fewest deaths in attacks recorded since the 2003 invasion. Official figures showed a total of 122 people were killed in November.

Both the Baghdad government and the US military have warned of a rise in attacks in the run-up to the election.

Despite Tuesday's attacks, US forces remain on track to begin withdrawing from Iraq in large numbers next year, said Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

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