US President Barack Obama has led international condemnation² of Sunday's double suicide bomb attack in Baghdad that killed at least 132 people.

美国总统奥巴马对星期天巴格达发生的两起自杀式炸弹袭击表示强烈谴责，据悉昨天的袭击造成至少132人死亡。

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The ministry of justice was one of the targets

Mr Obama branded the attacks - the worst in more than two years in Iraq - "hateful and destructive".

UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said they were a "terrible reminder⁴ of the threat from violent extremism（极端主义，过激论）".

The blasts hit the ministry of justice and a provincial⁵ government office near the heavily fortified⁶（加强的） Green Zone.

More than 520 people were also injured when the two car bombs exploded in quick succession at 1030 (0730 GMT) as people headed to work during the rush hour.

The White House said President Obama had spoken to Iraqi PM Nouri Maliki and President Jalal Talabani to pledge his support.

Mr Obama said in a statement: "I strongly condemn¹ these outrageous⁷（暴虐的，可恶的） attacks on the Iraqi people, and send my deepest condolences（吊唁，哀悼） to those who have lost loved ones.

"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."

His Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: "These despicable（可鄙的，卑劣的） terrorist attacks seek to undermine the impressive progress that Iraq has made towards stability and self-reliance. They will not succeed."

The International Zone, or Green Zone, is the administrative⁸ heart of the capital.

The Iraqi authorities said the suicide bombers⁹ drove their vehicles into parking bays and detonated（使爆炸） them.

Traffic limits in the street were eased six months ago and blast walls repositioned as part of a programme which Mr Maliki said showed progress was being made against insurgents（造反者，起义者）.

Dozens of the dead were said to be staff members of the ministry of justice and Baghdad provincial government.

No-one has yet said they carried out the attack.

Election fears

The BBC's Gabriel Gatehouse in Baghdad says that hours after the explosions, rescue workers were still sifting¹⁰ through the rubble¹¹ and the wreckage（破坏，残骸）, looking for bodies and survivors¹².

Hospitals struggled to deal with the wounded as ambulances brought in more and more casualties.

After Mr Maliki visited the scene he blamed al-Qaeda and supporters of former president Saddam Hussein.

"These cowardly terrorist attacks must not affect the determination of the Iraqi people to continue their struggle against the remnants（剩余，遗迹） of the dismantled¹³（拆除，分解） regime and al-Qaeda terrorists, who committed a brutal¹⁴ crime against civilians," he said.

Overall, violence has dropped dramatically in Iraq compared to a year ago, although sporadic¹⁵（零星的） attacks still continue in several parts of the country.

But our correspondent says there are fears that violence may increase as the country heads towards parliamentary elections scheduled for next January.