Hundreds of people were wounded in the attack, the worst for months in the Iraqi capital [AFP]

The blasts went off less than a minute apart on Sunday, near the ministry of justice and the headquarters of the Baghdad provincial administration close to the Tigris river.

Firefighters pulled charred and mangled bodies off the streets near the provincial government building while burnt-out cars were piled up at the blast site.

There were so many wounded that civilian cars were pressed into service to bring the casualties to area hospitals.

"The walls collapsed and we had to run out," Yasmeen Afdhal, an employee of the Baghdad provincial administration, targeted by one of the bombs, said.

"There are many wounded, and I saw them being taken away. They were pulling victims out of the rubble, and rushing them to ambulances."

Authorities closed off roads leading to the bomb sites as fire engines and ambulances struggled through thick traffic to reach the blazing buildings.

Baathists blamed

Ali al-Dabbagh, an Iraqi government spokesman, said he suspected either al-Qaeda or remnants of Iraq's former government to be behind the attacks.

Al-Dabbagh said he was in the nearby al-Mansour hotel when the bombs went off and he and others around him were showered in glass.

The timing of the attack has raised suspicion because Iraq's political leaders were set to meet later on Sunday to resolve a dispute which could lead to a delay in elections scheduled for January.

Nuri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, said that if there was a delay "the government ... and parliament will lose its legitimacy, that there would be a return to sectarianism".

With the bombings, the bloodiest attack in the Iraqi capital for months, it was unclear if the political rivals would risk convening.

Political message

Al-Maliki, who later toured the site of the blasts, has also accused al-Qaeda and former Baath party members of being behind the attack.

Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish MP in the Iraqi parliament, said the bombing was a message to Iraqi politicians and foreign investors.

"This sends two messages, one of them is to the investment conference in Washington held just a few days ago as if to tell investors not to come to Iraq ... At the same time I think it may be a message to the meeting today of the political council of national security," he said.

"They're trying to solve the problems concerning the elections law. I hope this will urge them to work more than before to solve this problem."

Bombings condemned

Jalal Talabani, Iraq's president, condemned the attack, as did other world powers.

"The presidency of the European Union condemns today's car bombs in Baghdad," said a statement issued by Sweden, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.

"The presidency conveys its condolences to the families of the victims of this terrorist attack," it said.

In August, blasts near government ministries killed almost 100 people and wounded hundreds in Iraq's bloodiest day this year.

Though violence has fallen in Iraq, attacks are still common.

Many Iraqi officials have warned that ahead of the planned elections, violence by groups intent on making the country appear unstable, could rise.

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