Iraq calls for Bloody Wednesday tribunal

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- The United Nations should appoint a special tribunal to investigate the deadly string of bombings that rocked Baghdad on Aug. 19, the Iraqi president said.

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said in his address before the U.N. General Assembly in New York that the world body should convene a special tribunal to examine what his country calls Bloody Wednesday.

"The Iraqi government finds itself obliged to resort to the United Nations to protect its people and stop the bleeding of innocent Iraqis," he said.

A series of coordinated attacks hit several government buildings near the heavily fortified Green Zone on the morning of Aug. 19, killing more than 100 people and injuring thousands more.

Iraqi television later showed confessions from alleged perpetrators who pointed to Baath Party supporters in Syria as the masterminds of the plot. Damascus denied it played a role in the plot and a division of al-Qaida in Iraq issued its own statement of responsibility for the attack.

Ankara attempted to repair Iraqi-Syrian ties in the wake of the Aug.19 attacks by hosting leaders from Baghdad, Damascus and the Arab League for a multilateral meeting.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, however, described those efforts at largely ineffective.