Iraqi Insurgents Kidnap Bishop

[David]

AP


Gunmen kidnapped a Catholic archbishop and targeted security forces in a series of brazen assaults Monday that killed more than 20 people. A suicide bomber attacked U.S. Marines in Ramadi, where two Shiite Muslims were beheaded and their bodies left on a sidewalk.

The top U.S. general here predicted more violence on the Jan. 30 balloting but pledged to do "everything in our power" to ensure safety. As part of a crackdown on insurgents, U.S. troops arrested more than 100 suspects over the past three days, U.S. officials said.

In Mosul, Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa, 66, of the Syrian Catholic Church, was seized while walking in front of his church, a priest said on condition of anonymity. No group claimed responsibility, but The Vatican condemned the abduction as a "terrorist act.

Christians make up just 3 percent of Iraq's 26 million people. The major Christian groups include Chaldean-Assyrians and Armenians with small numbers of Roman Catholics.

The deadliest attacks occurred in the three insurgent flashpoint cities north and west of Baghdad in areas where Sunni Muslim insurgents are seeking to derail the balloting.

In Buhriz, 35 miles north of Baghdad, gunmen attacked an Iraqi National Guard checkpoint at the provincial broadcasting center, killing eight soldiers and wounding four. A suicide driver blasted a police station in Beiji, 155 miles north of the capital, killing seven policemen and wounding 25 people.

A U.S. spokesman said Marines suffered an undisclosed number of casualties in a suicide car bombing in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad. The Marines were sent to check a suspicious vehicle and when they arrived, they came under small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire and the vehicle exploded.

"There were U.S. casualties," 1st Lt. Lyle Gilbert said. He declined to give further details, citing security.

In other developments:


In Ramadi, officials Monday found six bodies ? five civilians and one Iraqi soldier ? each bearing handwritten notes declaring them collaborators, officials said. Four had been shot but two were beheaded, their blood-soaked bodies left where they died. A note left beside the bodies said they were Shiite who confessed to spying for the Americans. They were seized after leaving an American garrison in the middle of the city, the note said.


Also Monday, police discovered a car loaded with explosives in the Shiite holy city of Karbala. On Sunday, a total of 17 people were killed in attacks along the main highway from Baghdad to Kut, 100 miles to the southeast. Many Shiites have been using the Kut highway for travel to the south to avoid a more direct route, which passes through the "triangle of death," where Sunni extremists have been targeting Shiites, foreigners, government officials and security personnel.


In Kut, gunmen broke into an administration building at Wasit University early Monday, wounded two guards and ransacked some offices, police said. University authorities postponed exams until after the election. Kut is in a largely Shiite province that U.S. officials said was safe for elections. In a statement Monday, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., commander of the multinational forces, said about 300,000 U.S., Iraqi and other international forces will be available to protect voters.


An al-Qaida group led by Jordanian militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for attacks on three polling stations in southern Iraq in a statement found Monday on a Web site. On Sunday, four mortar rounds blasted schools in relatively quiet Basra, Iraq's second largest city, slated to serve as polling centers in the Jan. 30 elections to chose a 275-member National Assembly. "Your brothers in al-Qaida in Iraq attacked this morning three elections centers in Basra," the statement said.


The British government warned its nationals Monday against traveling to Baghdad and five adjacent provinces as violence is expected to mount until national elections at the end of this month. The advisory, issued by the British Embassy in Baghdad, also urged British subjects to avoid all but essential travel to other parts of Iraq.


Shiites have been targets of intimidation because they are expected to turn out in large numbers for the election, in which Iraqis will choose a 275-member National Assembly that will appoint a new government and draft a permanent constitution.

Shiites form about 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million population, and their candidates are expected to win most of the assembly seats. Many Sunni Arabs fear the loss of power they enjoyed under Saddam Hussein. Sunni clerics have called for a boycott, and U.S. officials fear a low Sunni turnout may cast doubt on the legitimacy of the new government.

An increasing number of Iraqis are fleeing the country ahead of the election to avoid the violence, the Washington Post reports.

"Is there going to be violence on election day? There is, but it's important that we understand what's happening here," Casey said. "It's not just about violence. It's about former regime loyalists and foreign terrorists murdering innocent Iraqis and Iraqi security forces to stop them from exercising their right to vote."

Nevertheless, violence has already impacted on the exercise in democracy. Some political alliances have declined to release all the names of their candidates for fear of attack, and little public campaigning has been possible except in Kurdish areas of the north.

Shiite politician Salama Khafaji, who survived an ambush Sunday in central Baghdad by gunmen wearing police uniforms, said she canceled campaigning in the south after her staff discovered terrorist checkpoints on major routes.

"We sent people out today to check roads in the area but they have reported back that terrorists have set up some road checkpoints," she said. "Generally I cannot go out and meet people or knock on door to get out the vote like they do in the West."

Despite the security crisis at home, Iraqis living abroad began registering to vote Monday, with dozens arriving at polling stations in 14 countries from Australia to Britain to the United States. Many expressed confusion at the process.

Officials estimate 1.2 million Iraqis are eligible to vote overseas. In Britain, many of the estimated 150,000 Iraqis eligible to vote were confused about the fledgling political process and unsure who to vote for.

"We lived in a dictatorship a long time, and it's the first time in my life, in my 48 years, that I can vote in Iraq," said Saieb Jabbar, who arrived at a London registration center with his 23-year-old son, Ahmed. "I feel very happy."

Thousands of Iraqi expatriates headed to the Detroit suburb of Southgate and four other U.S. cities Monday to register. Some traveled hundreds of miles to participate.

Bushra Albrhi, who registered with her husband, said she appreciates the part America played in getting rid of Saddam and giving Iraqis the chance to vote.

"It's the first time for the Iraqis. We'll be very happy if we get a president from the people," she said.