'Simply a Message by al Qaeda'

June 25, 2007 — -- At least 45 people were killed and more than 90 were wounded in bombings across Iraq today, but one of the attacks struck at the heart of an effort to end the violence in the region.

The clock at Baghdad's Mansour Hotel stopped at exactly 11:48 a.m., the moment a massive explosion tore through the lobby, leaving the band from an Arab headdress amid the dust, blood and rubble.

The bomber blew himself up in the hotel lobby as Sunni tribal leaders, mapping a strategy to defeat al Qaeda, were meeting.

The pressure of the blast blew down ceiling tiles, marble walls and windows.

But, to first get inside the hotel, the bomber had to pass through three levels of security, including a checkpoint outside the high-rise hotel compound, an inspection station for car bombs, and past what is supposed to be a body search immediately inside the hotel lobby.

The Mansour Hotel, which houses the Chinese Embassy, is a timeworn haunt of foreigners. But the apparent target today was a group of Sunni sheiks from al Anbar Province who gathered in the crowded lobby for a meeting to discuss ways to combat al Qaeda.

The attack had the look of a warning.

"This is simply a message by al Qaeda to the people of al Anbar that we have long arms, we can reach you, we can intimidate you, and we can kill you," said Ghassan al-Atiyyah of the Iraq Foundation for Development and Democracy.

It was a blow to American and Iraqi hopes of co-opting Sunnis and a fatal blow to five sheiks, including Fassal al-Guood, the former governor of Anbar Province.

They were all killed by a bomber who patiently walked the length of the lobby to reach them before detonating his explosives.

It was exactly the type of gathering American military commanders have said is among the best hopes for a stable, peaceful Iraq.

ABC's John Hendren originally filed this report from Baghdad on "World News With Charles Gibson."