Paxety Pages

A suicide bomber used a Land Rover taxi that regularly plies the route between Halabja and the town of Sayyid Sadiq to help him cross from Ansar-held territory into the zone controlled by government forces. He detonated his charges when confronted by government troops at a roadside checkpoint, killing two soldiers, the taxi driver and himself. The attack coincided with a conference of Iraqi opposition organizations on a post-Saddam political order, attended by Zalmay Khalilzad, President Bush's special envoy to the Iraqi opposition. Though believed to have been simply coincidental, the timing was poignant: Khalizad had come to address the first umbrella gathering of mostly-exiled opposition groups to be held inside Iraq.

The bomber, carrying a package of explosives and ball bearings strapped to his chest, was the sole passenger in the Land Rover taxi, sitting behind the driver and passing through a number of checkpoints. But when he neared Halabja, two wary soldiers had asked the passenger to produce his ID. Although local officials believe the bomber's intended target may have been the nearby military headquarters, once accosted by the government soldiers he knew he would get no further. Opening the left rear door, he stepped out with one hand in his pocket, a finger poised on the trigger mechanism. TIME's correspondent witnessed the explosion from a ridge-top bunker a short distance away. A flash and thick curls of smoke engulfed the road before the crack of the explosion washed across farmers' fields. Moments later, a Kurdish government mortar battery retorted, dropping a round on the lip of an Ansar bunker within view of the chaotic checkpoint scene.

Still no connection between Al Qaeda and Iraq? Read the whole thing.

A Paxety Pages Update - The CIA reports Al Qaeda terrorists are hiding in Iraq and plan to attck US troops after the battle begins.