U.S. blames Iraq blast on hostile act (which caused gas explosion)

http://www.dfw.com/mld/dfw/news/breaking_news/15279023.htm

U.S. blames Iraq blast on hostile act
Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Car bombs triggered gas explosions in a Shiite neighborhood two days ago, the U.S. said Tuesday, acknowledging that the attack was due to a hostile act.

At least 63 Iraqis were killed and 140 wounded in the series of explosions Sunday night in Zafraniyah. Iraqi officials said the blasts were due to car bombs and a rocket attack from a Sunni neighborhood under U.S. control.

But U.S. military spokesman, Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, insisted Monday that American experts had concluded that there was "no evidence" of anything other than a "significant gas explosion."

That implied that the blast may not have been due to a hostile act.

However, a U.S. statement Tuesday said the blasts were triggered when two car bombs detonated near a residential building, "causing a gas explosion" that collapsed the structure.