Suicide bomber kills dozens in Iraq

TIKRIT, IRAQ // A suicide bomber wearing a vest filled with explosives attacked Iraqi police recruits on Tuesday in the former dictator Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, killing at least 42 and wounding more than 100, officials said.

Ahmed Abdul Jabbar, the deputy governor of Salahuddin province, said the attack took place outside a police recruiting centre where Iraqi men were lining up with their documents, hoping to get a job.

"Who else would it be but al Qa'eda, who keep on slaughtering us," said Mr Abdul Jabbar. "They are the terrorists."

A police source in the city, 150km north of Baghdad, said the main hospital was overwhelmed. Mosques broadcast appeals for residents to donate blood.

"The hospital theatre now is full of dead and wounded young people. Ambulances are still evacuating casualties," the police source said at the hospital, asking not to be identified.

A police spokesman said more than 300 people were standing in line at the time of the attack.

"There were many killed and wounded. The place was full of dead and wounded guys," he said.

A Salahuddin provincial council worker, Muhanad Abdulrahman, said he rushed out to a balcony when he heard there had been a bomb in the city centre.

"I saw a police pick-up truck rush by piled high with wounded people," he said. "Blood was dripping down the sides of the vehicle and the people in the back were covered in blood."

* Reuters