Seraphim
05-31-2004, 05:49 AM
By MARIAM FAM, Associated Press Writer
KUFA, Iraq - Fighting raged in the Shiite holy city of Kufa early Monday, killing two U.S. soldiers and further eroding a deal to halt clashes with followers of a radical Muslim cleric.
The militiamen, allied with cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, accused the Americans of firing near the main mosque, damaging its outer wall. Attackers ambushed a patrol with small arms fire, killing one soldier, and fired a rocket propelled grenade on a tank, killing another.
The fighting also killed one Iraqi and injured eight others, hospital officials said.
In a report from Kufa, CNN, which has a reporter embedded with 1st Armored Division troops there, spoke of a "major firefight" which broke out late Sunday when soldiers tried to secure a police station. CNN quoted soldiers as saying it was the most intense fighting in the area in the past six weeks.
In a separate incident, one Task Force 1st Armored Division soldier died Sunday and two others were wounded when they hit a roadside bomb south of Baghdad, the military reported. More than 800 service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq (news - web sites).
The attacks came as assailants ambushed a convoy of Britons on a northern Baghdad highway Sunday, killing one Iraqi security guard and a bystander, officials and witnesses said.
The attack on the convoy in Baghdad's Shoala district occurred near dusk as three sport utility vehicles headed south toward the city center. Gunmen in an approaching vehicle opened fire, sending three of the four SUVs careening off the road into barricades.
Crowds of Iraqi youths danced and cheered as rescuers dragged a bloodied body, wearing a flak vest, from the driver's seat of one vehicle. Others looted tires and set two vehicles on fire.
Two witnesses, Khalid Zaalan, 22, and Qays Hussein, 15, said there was a shootout, and armed Western men jumped from the wrecked SUVs, commandeered a passing car at gunpoint and escaped.
In London, the British Foreign Office said four Britons and another Iraqi jumped out of the vehicles, flagged down a passing Iraqi vehicle and escaped. None of the Britons was hurt but the Iraqi was wounded, the statement said.
A family of three was caught in the crossfire, according to Dr. Mazhar Abdullah of the nearby al-Sadr hospital. The husband was killed and his wife, six months pregnant, was seriously injured, the doctor said.
A preliminary report from the 1st Cavalry Division, responsible for security in Baghdad, said one Iraqi security guard was killed and another was wounded. The report did not mention any missing personnel or an escape.
In Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, Shiite politicians sought to save a three-day-old agreement with radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to end the standoff with U.S. soldiers in the holy city and restore government control there.
Al-Sadr's fighters took over Najaf and its twin city Kufa in early April after occupation authorities cracked down on his militia, closing his newspaper, arresting a key lieutenant and announcing an arrest warrant against him for the murder of a rival cleric. The crackdown triggered an uprising in the once quiet Shiite areas in which hundreds have been killed.
Under a deal announced Thursday with Shiite leaders, al-Sadr agreed to remove his fighters from the streets and begin a dialogue with the clerical hierarchy over the future of his militia and the warrant against him. U.S. troops agreed to halt offensive operations around Najaf and Kufa.
However, daily clashes since the agreement was announced have threatened to scuttle the deal. About 150 policemen sent from Baghdad to replace local policemen who deserted returned to Baghdad — ostensibly because of lack of accommodation for them.
The move threatens to delay the start of joint patrols — considered the key to shoring up security in the city as al-Sadr's militiamen return to their homes.
On Sunday, U.S. troops and al-Sadr's fighters exchanged gunfire near Najaf's Valley of Peace cemetery — the largest burial ground in the Muslim world. The U.S.-appointed governor of Najaf, Adnan al-Zurufi, has accused al-Sadr of failing to honor the truce.
Despite the clashes, Governing Council member Ahmad Chalabi, who traveled to Najaf to help shore up the agreement, told reporters there was a "a momentum for peace" and the fellow Shiite leaders were "working to implement this so we can avoid any clashes."
Chalabi met with al-Sadr's aides Sunday night and afterward told reporters he had worked out a "detailed plan for the implementation" of the truce agreement and would present them to U.S. and Iraqi officials Monday.
"We ask both sides to stop hostilities," Chalabi said.
KUFA, Iraq - Fighting raged in the Shiite holy city of Kufa early Monday, killing two U.S. soldiers and further eroding a deal to halt clashes with followers of a radical Muslim cleric.
The militiamen, allied with cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, accused the Americans of firing near the main mosque, damaging its outer wall. Attackers ambushed a patrol with small arms fire, killing one soldier, and fired a rocket propelled grenade on a tank, killing another.
The fighting also killed one Iraqi and injured eight others, hospital officials said.
In a report from Kufa, CNN, which has a reporter embedded with 1st Armored Division troops there, spoke of a "major firefight" which broke out late Sunday when soldiers tried to secure a police station. CNN quoted soldiers as saying it was the most intense fighting in the area in the past six weeks.
In a separate incident, one Task Force 1st Armored Division soldier died Sunday and two others were wounded when they hit a roadside bomb south of Baghdad, the military reported. More than 800 service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq (news - web sites).
The attacks came as assailants ambushed a convoy of Britons on a northern Baghdad highway Sunday, killing one Iraqi security guard and a bystander, officials and witnesses said.
The attack on the convoy in Baghdad's Shoala district occurred near dusk as three sport utility vehicles headed south toward the city center. Gunmen in an approaching vehicle opened fire, sending three of the four SUVs careening off the road into barricades.
Crowds of Iraqi youths danced and cheered as rescuers dragged a bloodied body, wearing a flak vest, from the driver's seat of one vehicle. Others looted tires and set two vehicles on fire.
Two witnesses, Khalid Zaalan, 22, and Qays Hussein, 15, said there was a shootout, and armed Western men jumped from the wrecked SUVs, commandeered a passing car at gunpoint and escaped.
In London, the British Foreign Office said four Britons and another Iraqi jumped out of the vehicles, flagged down a passing Iraqi vehicle and escaped. None of the Britons was hurt but the Iraqi was wounded, the statement said.
A family of three was caught in the crossfire, according to Dr. Mazhar Abdullah of the nearby al-Sadr hospital. The husband was killed and his wife, six months pregnant, was seriously injured, the doctor said.
A preliminary report from the 1st Cavalry Division, responsible for security in Baghdad, said one Iraqi security guard was killed and another was wounded. The report did not mention any missing personnel or an escape.
In Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, Shiite politicians sought to save a three-day-old agreement with radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr to end the standoff with U.S. soldiers in the holy city and restore government control there.
Al-Sadr's fighters took over Najaf and its twin city Kufa in early April after occupation authorities cracked down on his militia, closing his newspaper, arresting a key lieutenant and announcing an arrest warrant against him for the murder of a rival cleric. The crackdown triggered an uprising in the once quiet Shiite areas in which hundreds have been killed.
Under a deal announced Thursday with Shiite leaders, al-Sadr agreed to remove his fighters from the streets and begin a dialogue with the clerical hierarchy over the future of his militia and the warrant against him. U.S. troops agreed to halt offensive operations around Najaf and Kufa.
However, daily clashes since the agreement was announced have threatened to scuttle the deal. About 150 policemen sent from Baghdad to replace local policemen who deserted returned to Baghdad — ostensibly because of lack of accommodation for them.
The move threatens to delay the start of joint patrols — considered the key to shoring up security in the city as al-Sadr's militiamen return to their homes.
On Sunday, U.S. troops and al-Sadr's fighters exchanged gunfire near Najaf's Valley of Peace cemetery — the largest burial ground in the Muslim world. The U.S.-appointed governor of Najaf, Adnan al-Zurufi, has accused al-Sadr of failing to honor the truce.
Despite the clashes, Governing Council member Ahmad Chalabi, who traveled to Najaf to help shore up the agreement, told reporters there was a "a momentum for peace" and the fellow Shiite leaders were "working to implement this so we can avoid any clashes."
Chalabi met with al-Sadr's aides Sunday night and afterward told reporters he had worked out a "detailed plan for the implementation" of the truce agreement and would present them to U.S. and Iraqi officials Monday.
"We ask both sides to stop hostilities," Chalabi said.