AL QAEDA?

Probably...according to the FBI forensic experts.

The four bombers who blew themselves up in coordinated attacks in Baghdad earlier this week each detonated 1,000 pounds of plastic explosives, fueling speculation that Al Qaeda or other professional terrorist networks are behind the new wave of deadly violence in Iraq, U.S. officials said today.

It was believed to be the first time during the U.S.-led occupation of Iraq that such sophisticated and powerful explosives were used to attack Western targets, as opposed to crude devices using conventional explosives, according to several counterterrorism experts in the FBI and other government agencies.

The conclusion, reached by FBI forensic experts and bomb technicians on the scene in Baghdad, sharply escalated concerns that foreign fighters - including Al Qaeda or Hezbollah operatives trained in the use of such sophisticated explosives - were behind the attacks.