MORE ON THE SYRIAN IDIOT WHO FAILED TO GET HIS 77 VIRGINS

Which makes me wonder, if you fail the first time, do they reduce the number of virgins you get? If you fail too many times, do you owe them virgins?

The driver of the LandCruiser was Syrian, Iraqi authorities said, and at 10.15am he drove slowly through the station's back gate. There he was blocked by a barricade of sand-filled barrels and a $A170-a-month policeman who ordered him to retreat.

He slammed the vehicle into reverse, spun back 13 metres until he was clear of the barrier and then accelerated towards the side of the two-storey building. Already an officer was firing from the guard tower, and at the gate had unleashed half a clip of bullets from his AK-47 into the LandCruiser's windscreen.

The vehicle hit the station's outer wall with a thud. Then there was the briefest moment of silence. No explosion. No gallant martyrdom. The Syrian jumped from the vehicle and hurled a grenade as a bullet tore into his stomach.

Before he passed out, he shouted: "Arabs are cowards. Iraqis are traitors. I am an Arab, you cowards. Allahu akbar (God is great)." Police said they found a Syrian passport in the pocket of his blue robe-like dishdasha. On the passenger's seat was a police shirt and police armband that might have enabled him to pass through checkpoints.

He was unconscious and bleeding profusely by the time they got him to a hospital, where doctors were at first reluctant to operate, fearing he might have a bomb in his stomach.