Iraq renews call for U.N. probe after Baghdad bombings

By Waleed Ibrahim

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq renewed calls on Monday for a U.N. inquiry into the support given by foreign countries to insurgents after twin suicide blasts against government buildings in Baghdad killed more than 150 people.

Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said Sunday's bloodshed reinforced the need for the international community to help Iraq defend itself against bomb attacks as it emerges from years of sectarian conflict unleashed by the 2003 U.S. invasion.

"The bloody Sunday explosions strengthen Iraq's demand to the U.N. and the Security Council to nominate a senior international envoy to come to Iraq and evaluate the degree of interference targeting stability in Iraq," Zebari told al-Arabiya television.

"I believe this will be achieved soon, especially after (Sunday's) explosions confirmed that this issue is vital and important. We need the help of the international community."

In Washington, a State Department official said the United States supports an inquiry to see if there has been any foreign involvement in the attacks.

"We would support the idea of the U.N. appointing a senior official to go into Iraq and look into these very serious allegations," said State Department spokesman Ian Kelly.

"What happened was so utterly horrific that the circumstances surrounding it need to be looked into," he said.

Overall violence in Iraq has fallen sharply in the past 18 months as widespread fighting between its once dominant Sunni Muslims and majority Shi'ite Muslims faded. But a stubborn Sunni Islamist insurgency continues to carry out regular bomb attacks.