Naseer Al-Nahr, Arab News Staff

BAGHDAD, 4 March 2004 — Three rockets were fired at the headquarters here of the US-led coalition last night at the same time as overseer Paul Bremer was due to give a news conference, but there were no casualties, a military spokesman said. “There was a three-rocket attack in the Green Zone at 8 p.m. (1700 GMT),” the spokesman said. “One rocket impacted in the zone ... and at this time there are no reports of casualties.”

Bremer had been preparing to deliver a statement to reporters inside the protected area that houses the presidential palace and other buildings of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein. His appearance was delayed by 45 minutes but it was unclear if this was a result of the attack. Soldiers in the press center where Bremer was due to speak hurried out as the blasts were heard.

Two other explosions earlier yesterday appeared to be controlled blasts, which are regularly carried out by coalition soldiers.

Meanwhile, Shiites burying their dead chanted slogans against the United States and burned a US flag yesterday, venting their anger at Iraq’s instability after bloody bomb attacks on pilgrims in Baghdad and Karbala.

The US and Iraqi officials interrogated 10 Iraqis and five possible Iranians over the attack in Karbala, some suspected of smuggling explosives on wooden carts into the midst of thousands of pilgrims, US Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said.

Iraq Governing Council President Mohammed Bahr Al-Uloom told reporters that 271 people were killed and 393 were injured Tuesday in Baghdad and Karbala. US officials, however, put the combined death toll at 117. It was impossible to reconcile the discrepancy immediately.

Several thousand Shiites marched yesterday in a funeral procession for three victims. Surrounded by clamoring crowds, they raised a US flag over their heads and set it ablaze. US and Iraqi officials pointed to Al-Qaeda-linked Jordanian militant Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi as a “prime suspect” in the attacks, saying he aims to spark a Shiite-Sunni civil war in Iraq. Many Iraqis, including Shiites, have also accused foreign terrorists.

But many Shiites have also expressed anger at the US-led occupation. Iraq’s Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Husseini Al-Sistani, said the Americans had not done enough to provide security — particularly for not tightening border controls or properly preparing Iraqi police.