Police said a car bomb exploded near the provincial headquarters in the heart of Ramadi city, 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of Baghdad, followed 15 minutes later by a suicide bombing which witnesses said occurred amid ambulances and rescue workers attending to victims of the first blast.

Among the dead were four police while at least 51 people were wounded, including women and children, officials said.

The attacks marked the third time this year that the headquarters of the Anbar provincial government have been attacked and came a day after a new police chief for the province in western Iraq took up his post.

They also mark the first major attack since Maliki was confirmed for a second term in office last Tuesday and his new government, in which he retains Iraq's three security portfolios, won approval in parliament.

"A car bomb exploded near the Anbar provincial government offices around 9:30 am (0630 GMT) followed about 15 minutes later by a suicide bombing," said a police spokesman, Major Rahim Zabin.

"Seven people were killed, including four police, and 51 were injured, among them women and children."

An official of the local morgue said they had received seven bodies while the provincial hospital confirmed the injury figures.

According to police, the two attacks took place at Al-Ziut, a major intersection used by police and government officials on their way to and from their nearby offices.

"I was close to the car when it exploded among a big crowd, including women and children," said witness Abdel Hakim al-Dulaimi, 50. "Some victims were literally sent flying through the air."

An AFP reporter said at least 20 cars were destroyed in the blasts, while surrounding buildings and shops were damaged.

"I was at home enjoying my breakfast when the first explosion occurred, rattling my windows," said Majid Shahut, 34, who lives near the targeted intersection.

"I ran outside and I saw many vehicles on fire, and women, police and children lying on the ground. As the rescue teams arrived, a man dressed as a policeman blew himself up among the ambulances and the victims.

"I was injured in the arms and one leg," Shahut said, speaking from a hospital bed.

Maliki has assumed interim control of the defence, interior and national security ministries. These posts will be responsible for assuring security after the planned pullout by end 2011 of the roughly 50,000 US troops left in Iraq.

In his first address after being re-appointed, Maliki last Wednesday committed his new government to tackling the "enormous" challenges to improve security across Iraq.

The Ramadi attacks also mark a baptism of fire for Anbar's new police chief, Brigadier General Abdel-Hadi Rzeiq, who took up the post on Sunday.

His predecessor, Major General Baha al-Qaissi, was replaced in the wake of a suicide car bombing outside the same provincial offices in Ramadi on December 12, in which 11 people, including six policemen, were killed.

Ramadi is capital of the predominantly Sunni Arab province of Anbar, Iraq's largest by area.

The province was a key Sunni insurgent base in the years after the 2003 US-led invasion, but since 2006 local tribes have sided with the American military and day-to-day violence has dropped dramatically.

Major attacks do still take place, however.

On February 18, a suicide bomber killed 10 people, including four policemen and a young girl, and wounded 15 in an attack also near the Ramadi provincial government offices.

Though attacks remain common, violence in Iraq has dropped dramatically since its peak in 2006 and 2007. The number of people killed in violence across the country last month was the lowest in a year for the second month running.

earlier related report
Iraqis defy threats to pack massacre church on Xmas
Baghdad (AFP) Dec 25, 2010 - Hundreds of Christians packed Baghdad's Our Lady of Salvation church for Christmas on Saturday, defying threats of attacks less than two months after militants massacred worshippers and priests there.

Security was extremely tight, with forces armed with pistols and assault rifles guarding the area and a 10-foot high (three-metre) concrete wall topped with gleaming razor wire surrounding the church.

All cars entering the area were searched, and worshippers were patted down twice before being allowed into the church.

The mood was sombre after an October 31 attack claimed by Al-Qaeda affiliate the Islamic State of Iraq in which gunmen stormed the church, leaving two priests, 44 worshippers and seven security personnel dead.

The church, which was filled with more than 300 worshippers, still bears signs of the attack, its walls pockmarked from bullets and the destroyed wooden pews replaced with plastic and metal chairs.

The attack has left many reeling.

"Last year, we were all gathering" for Christmas, said Uday Saadallah Abdal. But "this year, I went to the house, and I saw it was empty... I was crying all night, because no one was here any more."

The 28-year-old said two of his brothers were killed in the attack -- one of the priests, Father Thair, and another brother Raed. His mother was also shot three times, and is hospitalised in France.

"I feel that their souls are still there in the church; that is why I came. They encourage me to come here despite all the danger and threats," Abdal said of his brothers.

"We are afraid, but despite that, we are coming" for mass, Rana Nikhail said. "We have to be here, because it is the birthday of the Messiah."

But "we cannot feel happy because tears are in our eyes, and people we love are not with us any more," the 35-year-old added.

Ten days after the deadly siege, a string of attacks targeted the homes of Christians in Baghdad, killing six people and wounding 33 others.

Threats have also been made against Iraqi Christians.

Chaldean Catholic archbishop Monsignor Louis Sarko in Kirkuk said on Tuesday that he "and 10 other Christian personages received threats from the so-called Islamic State of Iraq."

Syrian Catholic Archbishop Matti Motaka called for people to maintain hope despite all the hardships.

"Our message is for people not to give up and to have hope in this life," Motaka said after the mass.

"We have hope, because Jesus is with us all the time, during all the difficulties that we face," but because of the attack, "there is a great wound in the heart of the church."

Some worshippers asserted that despite the attacks and threats, they were not afraid, or at least not enough to stay away from Christmas mass.

"We have no fear at all. We are insisting on coming to the church for prayer and mass," said 40-year-old Tomas Rafo.

"We are here to support each other, to support the families of the victims, and to challenge terrorism," he said, adding: "Sadness is still in our hearts because of the attack, because of losing people that we love."

Fikrat Pack, 52, said: "There is sadness, but not fear. If we were afraid, the church would be empty. People are sad but not afraid, that is why they are here.

"We cannot give up our religion and our church because of an attack."

Speaker of parliament Osama al-Nujaifi urged Iraqi Christians, hundreds of thousands of whom have fled abroad amid unrest since the 2003 US-led invasion, to stay.

"Iraqis don't want the sound of the (church) bells to stop," Nujaifi said at the opening of the Saturday session of parliament.

Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki also expressed solidarity with Christians on Saturday, and called on them to remain in Iraq.

"The attempts at eliminating the Christians from their country and land is a huge crime against national unity," he said in a statement.

"We strongly call on (Christians) to stay in their country, to commit to their country and participate in building and reconstructing it."

Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim Atta said no incidents were reported on Saturday.

"Our leadership took a series of security measures to protect the churches, through deploying forces around all churches," he said.

"We are on alert for the mass, but we have no fear that the attacks on Our Lady of Salvation may be repeated," said Atta.

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