Baghdad bombs kill 36, "Chemical Ali" hung

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Suicide bombers attacked three hotels used by foreigners in the heart of Baghdad on Monday, killing at least 36 people and raising questions about government pledges on security before a March election.

The car bombs exploded, also wounding at least 71 people according to police, as Iraq executed for crimes against humanity the man known as "Chemical Ali" under Saddam Hussein because of his use of poison gas against minority Kurds.

The hanging of Ali Hassan al-Majeed was a high-profile step in the Shi'ite-led government's prosecution of Saddam's Sunni-dominated regime and was likely to fan controversy six weeks before the March 7 parliamentary election.

The latest bombings could also have an impact on the vote, representing a setback for Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki who has built his reputation on pulling Iraq out of sectarian war.

The ballot will be held as Iraq emerges from sectarian slaughter unleashed by the 2003 U.S. invasion and begins to sign multibillion-deals with global oil firms it hopes will open up a new era of stability and prosperity.

It was unclear whether the hanging of Majeed, a cousin of Saddam, took place before or after Monday's three separate suicide bombings that went off within minutes of one another, shattering a seven-week lull in such major attacks.

Some of the casualties were police. Health Ministry data showed a lower figure for the death toll.

The bombs mirrored a series of catastrophic attacks that have targeted government buildings in recent months.

The first blast occurred near an entrance of the Ishtar Sheraton hotel, a Baghdad landmark on the eastern side of the Tigris River that has been attacked before. The shock wave blew open doors, smashed windows and sent thick dust swirling into the Reuters offices nearby.

A giant mushroom cloud of debris rose from blast site as ambulances and fire trucks rushed to the scene. Helicopters buzzed overhead and soldiers blocked off entry.

Towering concrete blastwalls protecting the hotel along the Abu Nawas riverside boulevard fell like dominoes.

The building has not been a regular hotel for years, largely housing company offices and some media organisations. But some adventurous international tour groups began using it last year.

HOUSES DESTROYED

Zina Tareq, an Iraqi journalist who was in her office at the time of the blast, said she dived under a desk with the five-year-old daughter of a colleague.

"We heard a deafening sound. The ceiling collapsed on us and the windows shattered," she said. Another colleague was wounded.

The last major assault in Baghdad occurred on December 8. when a series of car bombs killed more than 100 people. On October 25 and August 19, a total of around 250 people were killed in suicide assaults on government buildings.

The damage was worse at another blast that went off near the al-Hamra hotel, which has been a hub for many Western journalists working in Iraq since the 2003 U.S. invasion.

Interior Ministry sources said men armed with silenced weapons attacked the hotel guards just as a Kia van laden with explosives drove at and broke through the gates and detonated.

One Western reporter said the hotel had sustained heavy damage. The Washington Post said on its website that three of its Iraqi employees were wounded.

The blast ripped through a residential area near the Hamra, knocking down walls and leaving mounds of concrete blocks and rubble in front of the exposed interiors of homes.

A final bomb exploded near the Babylon hotel. The area around the hotel has been hit several times in the past year by mortar or rocket fire aimed at the U.S. embassy, located across the river in the fortified Green Zone.

Baghdad security spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi put the death toll at seven killed with 51 wounded.

POISON GAS

Majeed's execution ends a long period of debate at the highest levels of the Iraqi government about carrying out death sentences for officials loyal to Saddam.

Majeed was first sentenced to hang in 2007 for his role in Saddam's gruesome 1988 campaign against ethnic Kurds, codenamed Anfal -- or Spoils of War.

In total, Majeed received four death sentences, the last just around a week ago for an attack on the Iraqi Kurdish town of Halabja in which thousands were killed by poison gas.

In a nod to the sectarian taunts Shi'ite Muslim observers heaped on Saddam during his December 2006 hanging, government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said Majeed was not subjected to any abuse during the execution.

Fouad Masoum, head of the Kurdish bloc in parliament, reacted to the hanging by saying that "justice has been done."

"This criminal has gotten what he deserved for the atrocities he committed against innocent people. I hope he will be a lesson for others."

(Additional reporting by Aseel Kami, Ahmed Rasheed and Muhanad Mohammed; writing by Missy Ryan and Michael Christie; Editing by Charles Dick)