Gunfight In Baghdad; Hostage Freed

[David]

AP


U.S. troops fought insurgents in a central Baghdad neighborhood Tuesday and a Turkish businessman held hostage for almost two months was released after his family reportedly paid a ransom.

U.S. troops and gunmen exchanged automatic weapons fire in the area around Baghdad's notorious Haifa Street on Tuesday, police and witnesses said.

The gun battle lasted between 10 to 15 minutes, and U.S. troops sealed off the area afterward, said policeman Salam Mohammed. No casualties were reported.
Senior U.S. military officers in Iraq say raids have intensified over the past few months and significantly battered the ranks of mid-level insurgents but have scored few gains against the 30 or so most wanted rebels, the Washington Post reports.

Up to a third of this group is thought to move in and out of Iraq with some frequency, officers told the Post. Many have eluded U.S. and Iraqi forces by staying on the move, avoiding telephones and receiving protection from family or tribal connections.

In other developments:


A bomb exploded along a highway in the western Baghdad neighborhood of Ghazaliya, killing one civilian and seriously wounding a policeman, a police officer said on condition of anonymity. Footage from Associated Press Television News showed a white police SUV littered with holes from flying shrapnel after the blast.


President Bush is officially asking Congress for about $82 billion to pay for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The funds were not included in the $2.5 trillion budget Mr. Bush sent lawmakers last week.


The 256th Brigade from the Louisiana National Guard detained 10 suspects during a four-hour operation that concluded before dawn Tuesday, the military said in a statement.


Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division brought in three suspects following raids just before midnight Tuesday.


Near Baqouba, the deputy governor of a volatile province north of Baghdad escaped an apparent assassination attempt Tuesday after a suicide bomber rammed his car into his government convoy, police said. The bomber died, but no other casualties were reported.

In the kidnapping, Kahraman Sadikoglu, president of the Istanbul-based Tuzla Shipyard, was released late Monday, and flown to Baghdad after spending the evening at a British base in southern Iraq, a Foreign Ministry official said. He was scheduled to return to Turkey later Tuesday through Jordan.

The ministry official did not give further details, but newspaper reports said Sadikoglu was released after his family paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in ransom. Sadikoglu was apparently abducted after leaving the southern city of Basra on Dec. 16.

His kidnappers later sent a video to a Turkish media organization in Iraq in which he appeared alongside a weeping employee, saying they were being treated well by their captors.

In the tape, Sadikoglu said he was working for the United Nations and the Iraqi government on a project clearing harbors of sunken ships. Sabah newspaper said his captors initially demanded $25 million in ransom, but later lowered the demand to a few hundred thousand dollars.

The Baghdad violence comes after election officials announced the results of the Jan. 30 elections.

A Shiite Muslim clergy-backed slate won 48 percent of the votes and 140 of the 275 National Assembly seats, according to results released Sunday in Baghdad. A Kurdish ticket got 26 percent and 75 seats, while a secular Shiite party won 40 seats. Nine parties divided the remaining 20 seats.


Instead, there will most likely be hard bargaining among the different factions, including that of U.S.-backed Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.

The provisional results have yet to be certified by the election commission pending challenges and complaints. On Tuesday, a commission official said at least six complaints had been filed so far. All complaints must be filed by Wednesday to be considered.