Baghdad's massacre continues

The Briton killed in yesterday's suicide bomb attack on a Baghdad hotel was today named as 29 year-old Scott Mounce from Inverness, who was working in Iraq for an Italian communications company.

A second Briton – 31-year-old Giles Ash, who was working for the same Italian company as Mr Mounce – suffered serious but not life-threatening injuries in the attack which killed 27 and left around 45 injured. No other Britons are thought to have been injured in the blast.

A Foreign Office spokesman said "We have been in touch with both sets of next of kin to offer consular assistance and pass on details." Local reports described the Mount Lebanon as a "soft target" because it lacked concrete blast barriers and other security measures.

However, US Army Colonel Jill Morgenthaler said the destroyed hotel may not have been the intended target, as the vehicle loaded with explosives was in the middle of the street, rather than parked in front of the hotel, inform &to=http://www.news.scotsman.com' target=_blank>News.Scotsman.com

A blast killed at least four people at an Iraqi hotel and gunmen killed three in an attack on staff of a U.S.-funded television station on Thursday, two days before the anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. The blast in the southern city of Basra also wounded two people, including a child, at the Mirbad Hotel in the center of town, witnesses and hospital officials said.

The Basra attack came a day after a car bomb blast near a Baghdad hotel which U.S. officials said killed about 17 people. They blamed it on Muslim militants with links to al Qaeda. Security forces have been on alert for an increase in violence ahead of Saturday's first anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion on March 20 which toppled Saddam Hussein, reports &to=http://www.reuters.com' target=_blank>Reuters.com