BAGHDAD, Feb. 11 -- A car bomb ripped through an army recruiting center in Baghdad early Wednesday morning, killing at least 36 Iraqis applying for jobs as soldiers, Iraqi officials said.

The bombing early Wednesday took place about 7:15 a.m., less than a mile from the Green Zone, the high-security neighborhood where the U.S.-led coalition has its headquarters. It was the second deadly vehicle bomb in central Iraq in 24 hours -- both apparently targeting Iraqis who were applying for jobs with the new security forces.

Gen. Jasir Tahir, the head of the police in the western part of the capital, said about 100 people had been waiting in line to apply for army positions Wednesday when a suicide bomber detonated an explosive-packed white Oldsmobile in front of the recruiting center.

The blast left a crater in front of the building and scattered portions of the vehicle, protective sandbags and body parts across the area.

Casualty figures varied. Maj. John Frisbie of the 1st Armored Division's 2nd Brigade, said 36 people were killed and 50 wounded. While Iraq's deputy interior minister, Gen. Ahmed Ibrahim, said 47 people were killed and 50 wounded...

...After the explosion, U.S. troops trying to secure the area clashed with angry Iraqis who contended that the explosion was caused by a missile fired by a U.S. warplane. Witnesses said the troops fired into the crowd, hitting civilians. A local surgeon reported treating three Iraqis who had been shot, one of whom died of his wounds...

"There is no God but Allah. America is the enemy of God," the protesters chanted. "Hell to the Americans. Hell to the Jews."

Trouble between U.S. troops and Iraqi bystanders started almost as soon as soldiers arrived in Humvees to secure the area. Several dozen witnesses said some soldiers stepped on bodies as they tried to set up a perimeter around the blast zone, angering Iraqis trying to assist the wounded.

Mouayed Abdul Kadhim, 35, a construction worker, said he saw one soldier step on the body of a man who had died. When Kadhim asked the soldier for permission to carry the body away, "he said no, so I hit him," Kadhim said.

Sabah Mehdi Ibrahim, 28, a taxi driver, said that he and others tried to get close to the police station to try to help but that the soldiers appeared to misunderstand, thinking he was attacking them.

"Anyone who came to help the wounded, they shot at," Ibrahim said...