posted on May 19, 2007 05:36:45 AM new
Blasts Hit Green Zone During Blair Visit
Updated 7:26 AM ET May 19, 2007
BAGHDAD (AP) - Outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose premiership has been dominated by his unpopular decision to join the Iraq war, arrived here on a farewell visit Saturday, and three mortar shells or rockets slammed into the compound where he met with Iraq's leaders.
The attack on Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone wounded one person, said U.S. Embassy spokesman Lou Fintor. One round hit the British Embassy compound, security officials said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.
It was not known if Blair was in the embassy at the time, but he appeared to refer to the attack when he held a news conference with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and President Jalal Talabani after meeting with them privately.
A fourth projectile exploded just outside the Green Zone.
Blair, who was on his seventh and final visit to Iraq as Britain's prime minister, said
he believed security was improving in Iraq, but acknowledged mortar attacks and terrorist attacks were still daily occurrences."""""
