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At least 147 die, 600-plus hurt in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- At least 147 people were killed and more than 600 wounded in two nearly simultaneous car bombings in Baghdad Sunday, authorities said.

The blasts destroyed the buildings housing the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Public Works and the Baghdad governor's office, where 10 members of Parliament were meeting, The Times of London reported on its Web site.

The bombs, which went off minutes apart, also incinerated many cars on Haifa Street outside the buildings, The New York Times reported.

"This is another terrorist message added to what we have gotten before from the Bloody Wednesday explosion," Provincial Council head Kamel al-Zaidi, told al-Iraqiya state television, referring to Aug. 19 attacks on government sites in Baghdad that left at least 122 people dead, wounded dozens more and shook local residents' confidence in the ability of Iraqi security forces to safeguard urban areas without U.S. support, CNN reported.

After Sunday's carnage, plumes of brown smoke hung over the city for hours, The Times of London said, and Haifa Street was under several feet deep of water because of burst mains. At points, the water was red with victims' blood, the British newspaper said.

The newspaper, without citing sources, said the attack was most likely carried out by Sunni extremists linked to al-Qaida or the former regime of Saddam Hussein. Those groups reportedly are trying to undermine the current government ahead of parliamentary elections to be held Jan. 16.

"It's about the election," said Salman, a Kurdish man looking for a car left behind by his injured brother. "It's a way of influencing politics."

The White House said in a release U.S. President Barack Obama spoke to Iraqi President Jalal Talabani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, expressing his condolences and reiterating U.S. support.

"I strongly condemn these outrageous attacks on the Iraqi people, and send my deepest condolences to those who have lost loved ones," Obama said in a statement released by his press secretary. "These bombings serve no purpose other than the murder of innocent men, women and children, and they only reveal the hateful and destructive agenda of those who would deny the Iraqi people the future that they deserve."

Afghan protesters burn Obama effigy

KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Afghan protesters burned an effigy of President Barack Obama Sunday in reaction to rumors, denied by U.S. officials, that U.S. troops desecrated the Koran.

An estimated 1,000 demonstrators, mostly university students, gathered in Kabul, the Afghan capital, the Los Angeles Times reported. Police fired warning shots as the crowd moved from Kabul University to the parliament building but no injuries were reported, newspaper said.

"Muslims were disrespected!" Zabiullah Khalil, an engineering student, said. "The foreigners shot the Koran, and then they burned it. They should be tried for this."

U.S. military officials denied any copies of Islam's holy book were desecrated and accused members of the Taliban of spreading the story to provoke animosity against the West. The rumor apparently originated last week in Wardak and was determined to be groundless following an investigation by Afghan and Western officials, the Times reported.

Demonstrators also protested Afghanistan's political situation, with some blaming the United States for fraud in the August presidential election and the contentious debate over whether and how to conduct a runoff between incumbent President Hamid Karzai and his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah.

"We don't want a slave government," Khalil said. "We want a real Islamic country."

There has been a wave of similar, but smaller, demonstrations against the alleged incident before Sunday's protest in Kabul, officials said.

Levin: Cheney has 'no credibility left'

WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney has doesn't have "any credibility left" with the American people, a senior Democrat said Sunday.

Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., responding to comments made by Cheney this week that President Barack Obama is "dithering" and "seems afraid to make a decision" on sending more troops to Afghanistan, told "Fox News Sunday" Cheney's comments "were totally out of bounds. I don't think he has any credibility left with the American people in any event."

Levin, who heads the Senate Armed Services Committee, pointed out former U.S. President George W. Bush wasn't unduly pressured by Democrats to make a quick decision on whether to send a troop surge into Iraq in 2007.

"I think it's really wrong for the former vice president of the United States to be talking as he did about the president dithering, because the president needs to reach the right decision," Levin added.

Levin said Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, has said "it's appropriate to deliberate and to change, as he put it, the strategy to one which is more workable than the one that is currently in place."

Evacuations in Calif. wildfire

WATSONVILLE, Calif., Oct. 25 (UPI) -- Winds were diminishing late Sunday and firefighters said they were making progress on a wildfire that had prompted California officials to order evacuations.

The fire in Santa Cruz County had consumed about 600 acres and was 20 percent contained by nightfall, officials said. The fire broke out about 3 a.m. PDT Sunday and authorities ordered residents to evacuate about 150 homes in north of Watsonville, the Los Angeles Times reported.

A trailer and two outbuildings had burned, the newspaper said.

The fire originated bear California Route 17 on the border of Santa Cruz and Santa Clara counties, Cherie Alver of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said. For much of the day the weather was warm and windy -- with gusts as high as 35 mph driving the fire.

Investigators had not determined the cause of the fire.