Blasts shake Baghdad hotel area

Three powerful explosions near Baghdad hotels used by foreign media and contractors have killed at least 17, police in the Iraqi capital say.

The blasts, two of them possibly car bombs, happened near the Palestine and Sheraton hotels and were caught on camera, one sending up a huge plume.
A BBC correspondent says the bombers may have chosen the hotels to ensure maximum publicity.

The blasts come amid speculation the poll on the constitution may fail.
At least two of the blasts appear to have been suicide bombings and a cement mixer lorry seems to have been used for one of them, police sources say

One source told AFP news agency the dead were mainly security guards, hotel employees and passers-by.

UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw condemned the attackers as "terrorists who really don't mind who they kill, provided they kill somebody in the name of a totally perverted ideology".

Source : BBC