Bombers kill 65 at two mosques in Iraq
(AP)
Updated: 2005-11-18 23:09

At first, the target appeared to be an Interior Ministry building where U.S. troops on Sunday found about 170 detainees, some of whom appeared to have been tortured.

Maj. Gen. Hussein Kamal, the deputy interior minister, said initial reports indicated that "the first car bomber was trying to pave the way for the second one ... to get in and hit the Hamra Hotel, not the Interior Ministry."

Also on Friday, insurgents attacked U.S. and Iraqi troops in western Iraq, setting off gunbattles that killed 32 insurgents, a U.S. military statement said.

One Marine and an Iraqi soldier suffered minor injuries during the attack, the U.S. forces said. Most of the fighting took place around the a mosque in the center of the town.

"Marines reported that they received sustained small arms fire originating from the mosque," the statement said. "A nearby U.S. Army outpost also reported receiving enemy fire from the area surrounding the mosque."

The U.S. forces estimated that at least 50 insurgents took part in the coordinated attack, which quickly dissipated when the Iraqi and U.S. forces returned fire, the military said. Iraqi troops entered the mosque and found spent ammunition.

Also Friday, the top U.N. human rights official called for an international investigation into the conditions of detainees in Iraq following the alleged abuse of those found at the Interior Ministry building.

"In light of the apparently systemic nature and magnitude of that problem, and the importance of public confidence in any inquiry, I urge authorities to consider calling for an international inquiry," said Louise Arbour, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.

Prominent Sunni Arabs have complained for months about abuse by Interior Ministry forces, whom they claim have been infiltrated by Shiite militias. The Sunnis called for an international investigation after the Jadriyah detainees were found.