US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday condemned the bombing attack on the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad that killed at least 11 people and wounded nearly 60 others.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, Powell said he had telephoned Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher to convey US regret over the injuries to Jordanian Embassy staff members, and the deaths of Iraqi police officers and others at the scene.  

He said that, despite the bombing and the killing of two more US servicemen in Iraq Thursday, coalition forces will over time be able to deal with Baath Party holdouts and others.

"As time goes by, they will learn more and more and more about the nature of the threat that's out there, who's responsible for these attacks," he said. "And slowly but surely, they will isolate them, get them, and bring the security situation under control."  

Powell predicted that Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein will be located "in due course," though he cautioned that this in itself, like the deaths of his sons last month, would not solve the security situation.

(Xinhua News Agency August 8, 2003)