Blast Injures Polish Envoy in Baghdad:
BAGHDAD, OCT 3--Polish ambassador to Iraq was wounded in a triple-bomb attack in central Baghdad Wednesday which also killed a civilian and wounded three others.
Iraqi defense ministry officials confirmed that three roadside bombs targeted ambassador Edward Pietrzyk's convoy as it drove through Al-Arasat neighborhood in the center of the Iraqi capital.
Polish foreign ministry spokesman Robert Szaniawski said in Warsaw that the ambassador was injured, but was able to leave the scene himself.
Szaniawski said three cars in the Polish convoy were destroyed in the attack, which occurred around 0700 GMT, adding that at least one of the ambassador's bodyguards was injured.
Witnesses said that after the attack a helicopter of private US security firm Blackwater landed near the scene and loaded up some of the wounded before taking off again.
It was not clear if the ambassador was among them.
Poland has become one the most loyal allies of the United States since the collapse of its communist regime in 1989, and joined NATO in 1999.
Warsaw was a solid supporter of Washington's moves against executed Iraqi dictator Saddam, earning it the ire of anti-war governments in Europe, notably France.
Poland supplied troops to the US-led coalition which invaded Iraq in March 2003, and has kept them deployed there ever since.
About 900 Polish troops are currently stationed around 200 kilometers (120) miles southwest of Baghdad.
A total of 21 Polish soldiers have been killed in Iraq since the conflict began.
Pietrzyk, 57, was a long-serving soldier before being appointed head of Warsaw's diplomatic mission in Iraq earlier this year.
He was commander-in-chief of Poland's land forces from 2000-2006.
He began his army career in communist-era Poland, and studied at the Soviet Union's artillery academy and its chief-of-staff academy.
Iraqi police and firefighters work at the site of an attack targeting the Polish ambassador's convoy in Baghdad.
http://www.alalam.ir/english/en-NewsPage.asp?newsid=039030120071003135228#Polish envoy hurt in Iraq blast
Poland's ambassador to Iraq has been injured in a bomb attack on his convoy in the capital, Baghdad, officials say.
Polish officials believe the attack on the three-car convoy in the city centre was a deliberate assassination bid.
Ambassador Edward Pietrzyk does not appear to have been seriously wounded and is now in hospital.
One civilian was killed and several others were injured in the attack. Poland backed the 2003 US-led invasion in Iraq and has about 900 troops there.
A total of 21 Polish soldiers have been killed in Iraq since the war began.
'Assassination attempt'
The diplomatic convoy was attacked at about 1000 local time (0700 GMT) in the Arasat district, officials say.
All three vehicles were destroyed by the explosion, thought to be from a car bomb.
Ambassador Pietrzyk "was able to leave the scene himself", Polish foreign ministry spokesman Robert Szaniawski told the AFP news agency.
He was taken to hospital in the heavily fortified Green Zone but his injuries are not thought to be life-threatening.
At least one embassy official was also injured in the attack, officials say.
The area was sealed off by Iraqi police.
Mr Pietrzyk was appointed as head of Warsaw's diplomatic mission in Iraq earlier this year. He was the commander of Poland's land forces in 2000-2006.
Several foreign diplomats have been killed by Iraqi insurgents since 2003
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