AT least 20 people were killed yesterday as three vehicle bombs went off close to a hotel compound used by western journalists and contractors in Baghdad.

Iraqi security chiefs said the attack was aimed at taking over the Palestine and Sheraton hotels and holding foreign and Arab journalists as hostages.

Television pictures showed a bomber driving a cement-mixer full of explosives towards the 12ft concrete blast wall outside the Palestine Hotel - and detonating it.

The 19-storey building sustained heavy damage from the blast, and debris was blown over a wide area.

It left a huge cloud of black smoke hanging over the square where, two-and-a-half years ago, Saddam Hussein's statue was toppled.

Another car bomb exploded nearby, close to a police checkpoint on the square, and a third went off across the square close to the 14th Ramadan Mosque.

At least half a dozen people inside the Palestine Hotel were injured as the force of the blast shattered windows and ripped out light fittings.

The dead were all believed to have been Iraqi police and civilians outside.

The co-ordinated bombings happened two minutes apart and were launched by terrorists armed with rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) and light arms, Iraqi authorities said.

Police opened fire with heavy automatic weapons and were thought to have fired on the cement-mixer as it approached the hotel compound wall.

After the explosions, US soldiers immediately reinforced their presence on the perimeter of the five-acre hotel compound, which includes the Palestine and the Sheraton.

Iraqi national security advisor Mouwafak al-Rubaei said: "Three cars came from three different roads, in succession, to create security breaches for terrorists.

"They were armed with RPGs and light arms. The plan was very clear to us, which was to take security control over the two hotels, and to take the foreign and Arab journalists as hostages to use them as a bargain."

He said at least 40 people were injured, mostly passers-by. The bombings happened just before Iftar, the traditional sundown meal eaten by Muslims to break the fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

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