In less than a week, ten explosions sent shock waves across Iraq, including the Egyptian consulate in Baghdad, Doaa El-Bey reports One of three explosions that rocked the Al-Mansour district of Baghdad on Sunday damaged the Egyptian consulate building and left four Egyptian employees injured. Though they are not badly hurt, the four are still receiving hospital treatment after being wounded by flying glass. The consulate has reopened and is working as usual. It would be premature to consider closing consular services as a result of the explosion, Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said a day after the blasts. "The situation in Iraq is such that any Egyptian or Arab diplomatic withdrawal would be disastrous." No group has claimed responsibility for the bombings though the method and timing bear the hallmark of Al-Qaeda. The three explosive laden vehicles, driven by suicide bombers, damaged the Iranian, German, Spanish and Syrian embassies as well as the Egyptian consulate, leaving more than 30 dead and 200 injured. It is not the first time Egyptian diplomats have been targeted in Iraq. In 2005 the Egyptian ambassador to Iraq, Ihab El-Sherif, was kidnapped and subsequently killed by gunmen. The current ambassador, Sherif Shahin, was not dispatched to Baghdad until late last year. On Tuesday Baghdad was rocked by seven more bomb attacks, destroying seven buildings and leaving 28 dead and 75 injured. The spate of violence comes as Iraqi politicians are struggling to form a government after elections that left no clear winner. Iyad Allawi's bloc secured a tiny majority, with Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki's coalition coming a close second. The danger was always that any political vacuum resulting from the polls could all too easily be filled with violence. Egypt has maintained close contact with Baghdad following the explosion. The Foreign Ministry is monitoring the situation and Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul-Gheit has been in contact with his Iraqi counterpart Hoshyar Zebari by telephone. Both officials have condemned the terrorist act and Baghdad has promised to exert every effort to find the perpetrators and punish them. Security forces were placed on top alert after Sunday's explosions. Baghdad witnessed similar coordinated attacks in January, targeting large hotels, while in August, October and December 2009 a concerted bombing campaign against government buildings left hundreds dead.
