While Qaeda claims responsibility for truck bombings that killed 95, Iraq on Tuesday ordered its ambassador to Damascus to return home and demanded that Syria hand over two senior Baathist leaders alleged to have ordered a deadly truck bombing in Baghdad.
"The cabinet demands the Syrian government hand over Mohammed Younis al-Ahmed and Sattam Farhan," said a statement quoting Iraqi government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh, announcing the ambassador’s recall.
"The cabinet decided to ask that they be handed over for their direct role in carrying out the terrorist operation," it added.
Hours after Iraq’s announcement, an al Qaeda-linked group claimed responsibility for the bomb attacks last week that killed almost 100 people in Baghdad, on a statement posted on a website used by Islamic insurgents.
"The sons of the Islamic State, in a new, blessed foray in the heart of injured Baghdad, moved to strike the dens of infidelity … of the Safavid (Shiite) government," the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) said.
"As we announce our responsibility for this blessed foray, we want to clarify, as we have said repeatedly, that we target the foundations of this evil state and those who supported it and helped establish it," the statement on the al-Fallujah Islamic Forums website said.
On Sunday, Iraq aired a video showing a former police chief confessing to a truck bombing last Wednesday at the ministry of finance, one of two attacks in the capital which killed 95 people and wounded about 1,000 others.
The suspect said he had received orders from his Baathist boss Farhan, who along with Ahmed, also a Baathist leader loyal to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, was based in Syria according to his video confession.
The statement announcing the recall of the Iraqi ambassador went further and pointed the finger at Syria for harboring insurgents.
"We also demand that Syria hand over every person wanted for committing murders and crimes against Iraqis and to kick out all terrorist organizations that use Syria as a base to launch and plan such operations against Iraqi people," it said.
The truck bombings at the ministries of finance and foreign affairs culminated in the worst day of violence seen in Iraq for 18 months.
In the immediate aftermath of the attacks Syria condemned the atrocities, with a foreign ministry statement expressing "deep sorrow at the loss of a large number of victims" and reaffirming "our support for everything which upholds Iraq’s security, integrity and stability."
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki visited Damascus only last week, when the two countries agreed to reinforce security cooperation, after the top U.S. commander in Iraq said Syria’s role in fighters crossing the border remained a concern.
Maliki travelled to Syria just days after a senior U.S. military delegation was in Damascus to discuss regional security issues, reportedly including Iraq, a meeting that irked some in Baghdad.
He and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad discussed strengthening cooperation, over border security, and Maliki "confirmed that having a strong relationship with Syria was in the mutual interests of both peoples," his office said.