Dennis G
02-16-2004, 03:00 PM
RIP
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Two U.S. soldiers were killed and more were wounded in separate roadside bombings in Iraq on Monday after gunmen killed an American civilian and wounded three others over the weekend.
Also Monday, a grenade exploded near an elementary school in a Shiite Muslim neighborhood of Baghdad, killing one child and wounding four others. The children apparently triggered the grenade while playing where it was hidden, Iraqi police Sgt. Maher Qassim said.
In Baqouba, about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, one soldier from Task Force Iron Horse (search) died and four others were wounded when a bomb exploded at about 9:40 a.m., the 4th Infantry Division said.
Two Iraqis were arrested, including one who had a cell phone that may have been used to detonate the bomb, according to Master Sgt. Robert Cargie.
In Baghdad, a separate bombing killed one soldier from the 1st Armored Division and wounded another, the military said. The 1st Armored is due to leave Iraq in the coming weeks and be replaced by the 1st Cavalry Division.
On Saturday, gunmen in a white sedan opened fire on a taxi that was taking an American religious group from the site of the ancient city of Babylon back to Baghdad, the U.S. military said Monday.
The three wounded were taken to a hospital in Mahmudiyah (search), about 15 miles south of Baghdad.
The statement did not identify the religious group with which the Americans were affiliated, but a number of Christian humanitarian groups are working in Iraq.
And in Kirkuk Sunday night, gunmen in a car opened fire at passers-by in a mainly Kurdish neighborhood, killing one Kurdish man and wounding two other people, police said. The attackers escaped, Col. Sarhat Qader said.
Ethnic tensions are high in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, where Sunni Muslim Arabs, Kurds, Turkomans and others are vying for dominance.
Another Card Falls
Meanwhile, a special Iraqi police unit on Sunday arrested a senior Baath Party (search) leader on the U.S. military's most-wanted list during a raid Sunday on his home in a Baghdad suburb. The capture of Mohammed Zimam Abdul Razaq (search) leaves only 10 top figures still at large from the list of 55 issued after Saddam's regime collapsed.
Abdul Razaq was No. 41, and the four of spades in the military's "deck of cards" of top fugitives.
Deputy Interior Minister Ahmed Kadhum Ibrahim touted the arrest as evidence that the still-rebuilding Iraqi police force "can be depended upon in the fight against terrorism" -- looking to give his troops a boost following the rout of security forces in Fallujah.
Attacks against the U.S.-led occupation force have continued unabated despite the capture of Saddam Hussein on Dec. 13 and the arrest of numerous figures whom the American military has identified as key figures behind the insurgency.
U.S. officials are divided about whether Iraqis or foreign fighters are responsible for recent attacks, including last weekend's bold daylight assault against police and civil defense compounds in Fallujah in which at least 25 people were killed.
The United States plans to transfer security responsibility to U.S.-trained Iraqi forces after the handover of sovereignty by July 1. However, the blueprint for the handover is in doubt after the country's leading Shiite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, demanded early elections to choose members of a provisional legislature.
The legislature will in turn select a government to take power June 30. The Americans say early elections are not feasible because of the country's security situation and the lack of voter rolls. The Americans want the legislators selected in regional causes rather than by the voters.
On Sunday, however, the top U.S. administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, suggested that the Bush administration would be open to compromise.
"The U.S. is here for a long commitment," he said on ABC's "This Week." "The job is to get a democratic, stable, unified Iraq at peace with itself and with its neighbors. And that will take time. It isn't going to end on June 30."
The latest deaths bring to 540 the number of U.S. service members who have died since the United States launched the Iraq war in March. Most have died since President Bush declared an end to active combat on May 1.
BAGHDAD, Iraq — Two U.S. soldiers were killed and more were wounded in separate roadside bombings in Iraq on Monday after gunmen killed an American civilian and wounded three others over the weekend.
Also Monday, a grenade exploded near an elementary school in a Shiite Muslim neighborhood of Baghdad, killing one child and wounding four others. The children apparently triggered the grenade while playing where it was hidden, Iraqi police Sgt. Maher Qassim said.
In Baqouba, about 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, one soldier from Task Force Iron Horse (search) died and four others were wounded when a bomb exploded at about 9:40 a.m., the 4th Infantry Division said.
Two Iraqis were arrested, including one who had a cell phone that may have been used to detonate the bomb, according to Master Sgt. Robert Cargie.
In Baghdad, a separate bombing killed one soldier from the 1st Armored Division and wounded another, the military said. The 1st Armored is due to leave Iraq in the coming weeks and be replaced by the 1st Cavalry Division.
On Saturday, gunmen in a white sedan opened fire on a taxi that was taking an American religious group from the site of the ancient city of Babylon back to Baghdad, the U.S. military said Monday.
The three wounded were taken to a hospital in Mahmudiyah (search), about 15 miles south of Baghdad.
The statement did not identify the religious group with which the Americans were affiliated, but a number of Christian humanitarian groups are working in Iraq.
And in Kirkuk Sunday night, gunmen in a car opened fire at passers-by in a mainly Kurdish neighborhood, killing one Kurdish man and wounding two other people, police said. The attackers escaped, Col. Sarhat Qader said.
Ethnic tensions are high in the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, where Sunni Muslim Arabs, Kurds, Turkomans and others are vying for dominance.
Another Card Falls
Meanwhile, a special Iraqi police unit on Sunday arrested a senior Baath Party (search) leader on the U.S. military's most-wanted list during a raid Sunday on his home in a Baghdad suburb. The capture of Mohammed Zimam Abdul Razaq (search) leaves only 10 top figures still at large from the list of 55 issued after Saddam's regime collapsed.
Abdul Razaq was No. 41, and the four of spades in the military's "deck of cards" of top fugitives.
Deputy Interior Minister Ahmed Kadhum Ibrahim touted the arrest as evidence that the still-rebuilding Iraqi police force "can be depended upon in the fight against terrorism" -- looking to give his troops a boost following the rout of security forces in Fallujah.
Attacks against the U.S.-led occupation force have continued unabated despite the capture of Saddam Hussein on Dec. 13 and the arrest of numerous figures whom the American military has identified as key figures behind the insurgency.
U.S. officials are divided about whether Iraqis or foreign fighters are responsible for recent attacks, including last weekend's bold daylight assault against police and civil defense compounds in Fallujah in which at least 25 people were killed.
The United States plans to transfer security responsibility to U.S.-trained Iraqi forces after the handover of sovereignty by July 1. However, the blueprint for the handover is in doubt after the country's leading Shiite Muslim cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, demanded early elections to choose members of a provisional legislature.
The legislature will in turn select a government to take power June 30. The Americans say early elections are not feasible because of the country's security situation and the lack of voter rolls. The Americans want the legislators selected in regional causes rather than by the voters.
On Sunday, however, the top U.S. administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, suggested that the Bush administration would be open to compromise.
"The U.S. is here for a long commitment," he said on ABC's "This Week." "The job is to get a democratic, stable, unified Iraq at peace with itself and with its neighbors. And that will take time. It isn't going to end on June 30."
The latest deaths bring to 540 the number of U.S. service members who have died since the United States launched the Iraq war in March. Most have died since President Bush declared an end to active combat on May 1.