Al-Qaida in Iraq claims it carried out suicide attacks outside embassies

BAGHDAD — An al-Qaida front group claimed Friday that it carried out triple suicide bombings outside foreign embassies, underscoring U.S. and Iraqi fears that the terror group is attempting to make a comeback.

The bombings were part of a wave of attacks over the last week that claimed about 120 lives in and around Baghdad, which al-Qaida in Iraq appears to have designated its battleground to drag the country into civil war.

National security officials in Baghdad and Washington said the terror network is looking to exploit political chaos left by the disputed March 7 parliamentary elections to regroup. The violence also has cast doubt on the abilities of Iraqi security forces that are responsible for protecting the country while American forces begin to head home.

Al-Qaida sees "a very small window of opportunity before this government forms," U.S. Brig. Gen. Ralph Baker said in an interview Friday.

He said it was still unclear "whether we're seeing a resurgence, or whether we're seeing a gasp and a surge, a last-ditch effort to reassert themselves." But, he said, the latter "would be my best opinion at this point."

Al-Qaida's strength in Iraq has been diminished after a series of U.S.-Iraqi offensives over the last few years and a revolt by once-allied Sunni tribal leaders.

But insurgents have still staged a series of high-profile bombings that punctuated periods of calm, and U.S. and Iraqi intelligence officials said they are bracing for more such attacks.

In a statement posted on a militant Web site, the Islamic State of Iraq, which includes al-Qaida, called Sunday's triple suicide bombings that killed 40 outside the German and Iranian embassies and the Egyptian consulate a "new strike into the heart of the security plan."

The group denied involvement with an attack this week that killed at least 50 people in mostly Shiite areas of Baghdad.