Iraq's security forces implicated in December bombings

At least 45 Iraqi security force members may have been involved in coordinated attacks that killed 127 in Baghdad on Dec. 8, prime minister Nouri al-Maliki has revealed. He said that 24 of the culprits belonged to one of the security services, 13 to another and eight or nine to a third. But he did not specify which organizations. He also did not name the authors of the operation, allegedly claimed by al-Qaida in Iraq. Three massive attacks near government targets in the capital have undermined popular confidence in Iraq's security services and in Maliki, who seeks to return to office after the Mar. 7 parliamentary election. Since the bombings at the foreign and finance ministries killed 102 on Aug. 19, many Iraqis have suspected that police officers or troops have colluded with bombers or carried out the attacks.