<br/>In Iraq, at least 36 civilians were killed and 71 injured in the series of explosions that targeted three hotels in Baghdad on Monday. According to Iraqi National News agency, the car bombs exploded near three Baghdad hotels popular with Western journalists and businessmen.<br/><br/>Iraqi military spokesman Maj Gen Qassim Atta said that all three bombings were suicide attacks.<br/><br/>The first explosion struck in the parking lot of the Sheraton Hotel, damaging a number of buildings along the Abu Nawas esplanade across the Tigris River from the Green Zone. Two other blasts followed minutes later, striking near the Babylon Hotel and al-Hamra Hotel, which is popular with Western journalists.<br/><br/>Policemen sealed off the area, while ambulances rushed the wounded to nearby hospitals for treatment.