By Aseel Kami
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed four people on Monday in an attack targeting the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya news channel in Baghdad, Iraqi security officials said.
The bomber blew up a mini-van he was driving close to the entrance of Arabiya's office in Baghdad's Harithiya district, killing a cleaner and three guards, city security spokesman Major General Qassim al-Moussawi said. Ten people were wounded.
The Arabiya premises, nearby buildings and several cars were seriously damaged by the blast.
The Dubai-based Arabiya TV also reported four people were killed and said none of them were reporters. The blast wounded at least 16 people, an Interior Ministry source said.
Lawmaker Salam al-Zobai of the cross-sectarian Iraqiya bloc was among the wounded along with five of his security guards, his spokesman said. Zobai's house was near the blast.
The attack occurred a few weeks after Iraqi security forces warned that a number of media including foreign outlets such as Arabiya could be targeted by the Sunni al Qaeda insurgency.
"Yes, there were threats from al Qaeda against the media two months ago. That's why we allocated a police patrol in each media location...The threats still exist," Moussawi told Reuters.
"Al-Qaeda's fingerprints are clear in this suicide explosion."
Major General Jihad al-Jabiri, head of the ministry's ordnance department, told Arabiya TV the car was packed with 128 kg (280 pounds) of ammonium nitrate. The blast left a crater in the ground 3.5 metres (7.7 feet) wide and 1.2 (2.6) meters deep, he said.
Iraq has been on high alert for insurgent attacks since a March 7 national election produced no clear winner and left the country adrift in political uncertainty.
Overall violence has dropped sharply since the height of sectarian carnage in 2006-7. But daily bombings and killings continue, suggesting insurgents are trying to exploit the vacuum as political rivals jostle for power.
(Additional reporting by Suadad al-Salhy; Writing by Rania El Gamal; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
