Baghdad , Iraq ( CNN ) -- The Iraqi government has aired videos showing three men , who claim to be members of the ousted Baath Party , saying they were involved in last month 's devastating Baghdad attacks . In recent months the Iraqi government has played a number of such videos for reporters . Many Iraqis have voiced skepticism about their authenticity . In the videos shown Sunday , the men said they were Baath Party members who were involved in planning and executing the October 25 bombings at government buildings . The two suicide vehicle bombings that struck the Ministry of Justice and other government buildings in October killed 160 Iraqis and wounded more than 500 . It was Iraq 's deadliest attack in more than two years . The attacks mirrored a pair of bombings on August 19 at the Foreign and Finance Ministries that killed more than 100 people and wounded hundreds more . The Islamic State in Iraq , an umbrella group that includes al Qaeda in Iraq , claimed responsibility for both the August and October attacks . The Iraqi government has said both attacks were a coordinated effort by Baath loyalists and al Qaeda in Iraq . In recent weeks , the government and Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki have stepped up the anti-Baath rhetoric ahead of the country 's upcoming national elections , an escalation that some fear is a political ploy to keep some Sunni Arab candidates from running in the elections . Sunni Arabs -- a minority in now-Shiite-led Iraq -- dominated Saddam Hussein 's Baath Party , which ran the country for decades and persecuted majority Shiites and minority Kurds . The party is illegal in Iraq now , and most of its former mid- and high-level officials are banned from government jobs . In an interview with al-Iraqia State TV on Sunday night , which re-aired on Monday , government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said the attacks originated from people in Syria . Al-Dabbagh cautioned that the Iraqi government is not accusing the Syrian government of involvement . He said a group based in Syria was planning and carrying out the attacks . He said the confessions shown Sunday were only a part of the information and confessions the government has . After the August bombings , tensions between Iraq and neighboring Syria reached an all-time high and both countries withdrew their ambassadors . Iraq accused Syria of harboring Baath Party members who , it said , were financing and planning the attacks in Iraq . Earlier in August , al-Maliki and a high-level delegation visited Damascus and asked the Syrian government to hand over a number of mid-level and senior Baathists living in Syria . Syria refused , and the Iraqis accused Syria of supporting the August attacks by providing a refuge for Baathists who were working with al Qaeda in Iraq . In late August , Syria repeated its willingness to help the Iraqis investigate the bombings and discounted the tapes the government had released as fabricated evidence . `` Syria informed the Iraqi side of its readiness to receive an Iraqi delegation to inspect the evidence available to them concerning the bombings ' perpetrators , '' a Syrian official said , according to SANA , the state-run news agency . `` Otherwise Syria considers what has been broadcast through the Iraqi media as mere fabricated evidence intended to serve internal political goals , and the conflicting and contradicting statements by the Iraqi officials are proof of that . '' The top U.S. commander in Iraq , Gen. Ray Odierno , told reporters last week that investigations into the October bombings were under way and a number of suspects were in custody . He said al Qaeda in Iraq has teamed up with remnants of the Baath Party -- a statement that gave more weight to the Iraqi government 's claims . `` We have been able to significantly reduce the capability of several groups to include al Qaeda and some of the Sunni rejectionist groups , so what I think we have seen happen over the last year or so is that these groups have started to work together . And so they have started to coalesce , especially at the local level . ... So it blurs the lines sometimes . And I think sometimes it 's semantics . Some people say al Qaeda , some people call them Baathists . I would argue that they are probably both involved , they are coordinating at the local level , '' Odierno said . When asked if there was any indication the attacks came from Syria , Odierno said : `` I think my experience is that there probably was some movement of fighters or explosives coming in from Syria . But again , we will continue to work our way through that . '' Odierno and Iraqi officials have warned that they expect more such high-profile attacks before the January national elections , the country 's second national vote since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003 . `` We believe there will be attempts to conduct more attacks between now and the elections , because they want to destabilize those . We are working hard with Iraqi security force partners to come up with a comprehensive strategy to stop that , we are increasing efforts , the Iraqis are increasing efforts in the belts around Baghdad and Mosul . ... We are increasing our efforts on the borders and we are increasing our counterterrorism targeting , and the tempo of that has increased significantly over the last month or so , '' Odierno said .
Iraqi officials air videos showing alleged confessions by Baath Party members . Men in videos say they helped in bombings that killed 160 last month . Some say government trying to discredit Sunni Muslims so they wo n't run for office . U.S. general says remnants of Baath Party have teamed up with al Qaeda in Iraq .