Replies

2 U.S. soldiers die in day of unrest in Iraq

BY MARIAM FAM

ASSOCIATED PRESS

BAGHDAD — A man wearing a belt of explosives blew himself up today outside the home of two prominent tribal leaders in a city west of Baghdad, police said. Two U.S. soldiers meanwhile were killed while disposing of explosives in northern Iraq.

Three Iraqi guards were seriously injured in the blast, which occurred in Ramadi outside the residential compound of brothers Majid and Amer Ali Suleiman, two of the city's most prominent tribal leaders who have co-operated with U.S. authorities.

Witnesses said the brothers were receiving callers when a man approached the compound but was told by guards to leave. He returned moments later and triggered the explosives, the witnesses said.

The attack follows a number of threats to Iraqis who co-operate with the Americans. The latest threats were contained in pamphlets circulated in Ramadi and nearby Fallujah by what purported to be a coalition of 12 insurgent groups.

Ramadi and Fallujah are located in the anti-American Sunni Triangle and are major centres of resistance to the U.S.-led occupation.

The two American soldiers were killed in an explosion outside of Sinjar near the northern city of Mosul during an operation to dispose of ordnance, according to Brig.-Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy operations chief.

Six other soldiers were injured in the blast that appeared to have been an accident and not a result of hostile fire, Kimmitt said.

Elsewhere, U.S. and Iraqi forces deactivated several rockets on a road, primed for launch toward the city of Baqouba, about 55 kilometres northeast of Baghdad.

Iraqi police arrested four people Sunday about 55 kilometres west of Kirkuk who were travelling in a car with maps identifying military and other targets. They also had a manual for making explosives, said Hadi Mohammed Moustafa, a civil administration official.

In Baghdad, the United Nations experts met several Iraqi politicians in a second round of meetings to discuss the chances of holding early elections, a source of conflict between the United States and the influential Shiite clergy.

Team leader Lakhdar Brahimi met individually with several members of the U.S.-installed Iraqi Governing Council to "gather facts," said Ahmad Fawzi, the team's spokesman.

Fawzi added that Brahimi will hold more talks with people across the political spectrum, both inside and outside the council.

The transfer of power is becoming a major headache for the U.S.-led coalition and the council.

The current U.S. plan is to choose legislators in regional caucuses, a move opposed by the country's most powerful Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani. It is hoped that Brahimi's team, which arrived Saturday on what is believed to be a 10-day mission, will help break the impasse.

Brahimi is expected to travel to the Shiite holy city of Najaf to meet al-Sistani, but no date has been disclosed.

During Sunday's talks, Sunni Muslim Arabs on the council echoed the U.S. view that early elections were not practical because of the need for extensive preparations to ensure a fair and credible ballot.

Most of the Shiite members favoured an early vote, arguing that sufficient data was available to guarantee an acceptable election.

"The Sunni Arabs fear that an early election will be dominated by the Shiites," said Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish council member opposing an early vote.

The Sunni fears arise in part from the minority community's disarray since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, whose downfall ended decades of Sunni privilege at the expense of the country's Shiite majority and sizable Kurdish community.