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15 Dead In Latest Iraq Violence
AP
A rash of violence across Baghdad Tuesday left at least 15 people dead, including 10 policemen killed in near simultaneous drive-by shootings. The attacks made for a violent backdrop as Iraqi political leaders prepared to resume talks in a bid to finalize the charter by Aug. 15. A suicide driver detonated his vehicle near a U.S. convoy in downtown Baghdad, killing at least five Iraqi civilians and injuring 11 others, police said. There was no report on American casualties. The attack occurred in early afternoon near Tahrir Square in the heart of the city, police Capt. Abdul-Hussein Munasaf said. Five civilian cars, one U.S. Army Humvee and an SUV were damaged. U.S. and Iraqi authorities sealed off the area. In three separate attacks, gunmen opened fire on police patrols around the city about 8 a.m., killing nine officers. A 10th policeman was killed later in the day. In other recent developments: A U.S. Marine assigned to the 2nd Marine Division was killed in action by small arms fire in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. The name was not released but the statement said the Marine died Monday. The mayor of Baghdad, Alaa al-Timimi, was fired and responsibility for managing the city transferred to the provincial governor, government spokesman Laith Kubba said Tuesday. He refused to say why the provincial council fired al-Timimi. The mayor of a southern Shiite city gripped by riots over lack of municipal services resigned under pressure, a local official said Tuesday. The decision was taken late Monday during a visit to the Shiite city of Samawah, 230 miles southeast of Baghdad, by a delegation sent by Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, according to a local representative of radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Saddam Hussein's family said Monday it had dissolved his Jordan-based legal team and appointed Khalil Dulaimi as the "one and sole legal counsel" ahead of the former Iraqi leader's upcoming trial. A Pentagon official said Monday that before U.S. troop levels can be reduced next year they will probably be increased this fall to provide extra security for a planned October referendum and a December election. Lawrence Di Rita, spokesman for Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, noted that troop levels were raised last January during Iraq's first elections, and then returned to the current level of about 138,000 several weeks later. Alexander Yakovlev, a former United Nations procurement officer from Russia, pleaded guilty Monday to soliciting a bribe under the Iraq oil-for-food program, making him the first U.N. official to face criminal charges in connection with the scandal-tainted operation. Political leaders are scheduled to meet for a second round of talks Tuesday to break a deadlock over remaining issues on the constitution, which the parliament must approve by next week's deadline. Talks had been postponed by a severe sandstorm Monday. A leading Sunni Arab helping write Iraq's constitution warned that accepting Kurdish demands for federalism would have "grave consequences" for the nation and the issue should be left for a new parliament to be elected in December. Saleh al-Mutlaq said the Sunni Arab bloc might formally submit a proposal to delay a decision on the contentious issue until the new parliament takes office. "I think they will accept it because there is no alternative. We will not accept federalism in these circumstances," said al-Mutlaq, who like most Sunni Arabs fears that federalism might divide Iraq. Sunni Arabs are expected to take a bigger role in the elections planned for Dec. 15. Many of them boycotted the Jan. 30 vote following calls by religious leaders and threats by insurgents. Sunnis, who make 20 percent of Iraq's population, currently hold only 17 seats of the 275-member parliament. The Kurds, who have enjoyed self-rule in the north since 1991, have demanded that the new constitution codify federalism to prevent a future government from curbing Kurdish autonomy. However, al-Mutlaq said that if the Kurdish demands are met, "they will have grave consequences." He did not elaborate, but the strong language underscores the depth of passion which the issue of federalism evokes on both sides. It was unclear whether Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party and an outspoken champion of federalism, will attend Tuesday's meeting. Barzani has been stuck in the north due to bad weather in Baghdad, unable to reach the capital. Sandstorms eased in the Baghdad area on Tuesday, but visibility was still limited. Al-Mutlaq also called for more political groups to join the constitutional discussions. The U.S. leadership has heavily encouraged the constitutional process, believing it will ultimately dampen the insurgency and allow for a drawdown of U.S. troops within the next year. In the attacks earlier Tuesday, assailants opened fire on a police patrol in the eastern New Baghdad neighborhood, killing five policemen who had fallen asleep in their car, said Lt. Col. Ahmed Aboud. The men had spent the night on patrol and were waiting to be replaced by another patrol, he said. Their weapons were all in the backseat of their four-wheel drive, he said. In another attack in the southern Dora neighborhood, armed gunmen assassinated police Capt. Haidir Mizhir Salih and another policeman as they were heading to work around 8 a.m., said 1st Lt. Mohammed Hanoun. A third drive-by shooting around the same time in the eastern Zayouna neighborhood left two officers dead and a third wounded, said Lt. Col. Fuad Assad. Later in the day, a 10th policeman was killed and two others were wounded in a drive-by shooting in northern Shuaula, police Lt. Haider Hassan said. |
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