Insurgents launch mass attack on Abu Ghraib jail

Insurgents detonated car bombs and rained down rockets on Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad, wounding 44 American soldiers in the most concerted attack on the infamous detention facility since the fall of Saddam Hussein.
Saturday night's attack came just hours before Iraq's new parliament elected a speaker, ending weeks of deadlock and taking the first step towards the creation of a government over two months after the country's landmark election.
American officials sought to put a positive gloss on both incidents.
The brazenness of the Abu Ghraib attack was another example of the insurgents' desperation, they said, while the consensus achieved by Iraq's parliamentarians demonstrated that democracy in the Middle East was viable.
Responsibility for the assault was claimed by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad Group, which purports to be al-Qa'eda's wing in Iraq.
In a statement posted on an Islamist website, it said fighters fired 39 Katyusha rockets at the building before detonating several suicide bombs at the prison's gates. It promised to release video footage of "the blessed attack".
No prisoners or American soldiers were killed during the one-hour battle, according to US military command. Officers said two car bombs were detonated. The second caused most of the casualties, exploding as soldiers rushed to help wounded comrades.