Ban hears Iraq's concerns on Aug. 19 plot

NEW YORK, Sept. 28 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon weighed Iraq's request to convene an independent international commission to probe the Aug. 19 bombings in Baghdad.

Ban discussed the commission with Iraqi President Jalal Talabani during the weekend, the U.N. news center reports.

Talabani said in his address before the U.N. General Assembly in New York that the United Nations should convene a special tribunal to examine what his country calls Bloody Wednesday.

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 as largely ineffective.

Meanwhile, members and supporters of the Baath Party in Damascus told Asia Times the group lacks the ability to carry out such a large-scale attack.