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BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- U.S. soldiers opened fire on a truck packed with explosives Saturday, killing the driver, and three Americans were wounded when the truck crashed on a bridge and exploded. The apparent vehicle-bomb attack was in Habaniyah, west of Baghdad. In Amarah, seven British soldiers were wounded in a three-hour firefight with unknown attackers in southern Iraq, coalition officials said. Three Iraqis were killed, British officials said. Meanwhile, Shiite members of Iraq's Governing Council conferred with the country's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, to resolve a dispute that held up the signing of an interim...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Army cancelled a $327 million (177 million pound) contract to equip the Iraqi army, citing technical problems with the bidding process, and has denied cronyism played a role in awarding the original deal. An Army official told reporters on Friday the original contract to Virginia-based company Nour USA, whose chairman is a close friend of Iraqi Governing Council member Ahmed Chalabi, had been withdrawn and new proposals for the work would be sought. The official said a review of the contract found a huge spread in competing bids, an indication competing suppliers had not understood...

No Injuries Reported BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Militants fired mortar rounds at the airport and two roadside bombs exploded Friday, hours ahead of a signing ceremony for the country's interim constitution, a key landmark in U.S. plans to hand over power to Iraqis by June 30. No injuries were reported. The signing of the document, scheduled for Friday afternoon amid tight security, was delayed for nearly a week - first by tough negotiations among members of the Iraqi Governing Council that went beyond a Feb. 28 deadline, then by a three-day mourning period following two suicide attacks Tuesday that killed...

<p>BAGHDAD — A bill of rights with clearly defined protections for women, religious groups and ethnic minorities — a rarity in the Arab world — won unanimous backing yesterday from the 25-member Iraqi Governing Council as part of a temporary constitution to take effect when the U.S.-led rule formally ends June 30.</p>

Although it was apparent the Iraqi General Council would miss the U.S.-suggested deadline to establish an interim constitution, IGC member Mawaffak Rubaie asserted late Feb. 28 that the signing of the document is imminent, noting, "Failure is not an option." Speaking to reporters at a Baghdad press conference, Rubaie insisted, "We have to get this document signed and dusted and finished with … this is a must. All Iraqi people are waiting for us to release this document." Rubaie, accompanied by fellow IGC members Samir Shakir Mahmoud Sumaidy and Barham Salih, noted that all of the 25 council members "are...

Chalabi stands by faulty intelligence that toppled Saddam's regime An Iraqi leader accused of feeding faulty pre-war intelligence to Washington said yesterday his information about Saddam Hussein's weapons, even if discredited, had achieved the aim of persuading America to topple the dictator. Ahmad Chalabi and his London-based exile group, the Iraqi National Congress, for years provided a conduit for Iraqi defectors who were debriefed by US intelligence agents. But many American officials now blame Mr Chalabi for providing intelligence that turned out to be false or wild exaggerations about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. Mr Chalabi, by far the most...

Summary The United States is struggling over the question of how U.S. intelligence was so deeply mistaken about Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. One of the points that is consistently brought up is that much of the intelligence flowed through the Iraqi National Council, an opposition group led by Ahmad Chalabi. It is now well known that Chalabi's sources were not ideal. What is less well known is the close, long-term relationship that Chalabi, a favorite of Washington's, had with Iran. Chalabi, an Iraqi Shiite, was and remains in constant contact with Tehran. We have assumed he was a channel...

Feb 18, 2004 Administration Considers Extending Governing Council So It Can Take Temporary Control By Barry Schweid/ The Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration is considering a major shift in its plan for transition to Iraqi self-rule, possibly extending and expanding the U.S.-appointed Governing Council so it can take temporary control of the country on July 1, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday. The serious consideration of that option comes as the Bush administration waits for U.N. help - now delayed by at least a week - in settling differences among Iraqi leaders on how to meet the...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - The capture of dozens of guerrilla leaders has left the U.S. military with a murky picture of a shadowy resistance here, with American and Iraqi officials divided about whether Iraqis or foreign fighters are responsible for recent attacks. A spate of arrests - including the capture of Saddam Hussein - have broken rebel command networks and forced fighters underground, a top U.S. military official told The Associated Press. Yet attacks persist, crowned by a bold daylight assault this weekend on security compounds in Fallujah that freed 87 prisoners and killed 25 people, mostly police. U.S. and...

<p>FALLUJAH, Iraq — Dozens of attackers ambushed a Fallujah (search) security compound and a government building on Saturday, killing at least 20 people and wounding 30 while freeing scores of prisoners, officials said.</p> <p>The attack was at the same compound hit two days earlier during a visit by U.S. Gen. John Abizaid (search).</p>

Scores of masked gunmen went on an audacious daylight rampage through the flashpoint Iraqi town of Fallujah yesterday morning, launching twin attacks on a police station and civil defence compound that left at least 23 people dead and 35 wounded. At least 14 of the dead were lightly-armed police officers, recently recruited to the force, who could offer little resistance to the heavily-armed gunmen, suspected of being foreign fighters. About 70 raiders shouting "God is great" fired rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and machineguns at policemen, throwing grenades as they cleared the police station room by room and released at least 20...

FALLUJA, Iraq, Feb. 14 — A single week in this restive town illuminated the triumphs and setbacks in Iraq's journey toward democracy. Under threat by anti-American insurgents, the mayor resigned. Another man suspected of cooperating with the Americans was gunned down in front of his home. A sheik elected to the new provincial council was attacked by a suicide bomber. The American adviser survived a bomb attack on his car. And on Saturday, attackers stormed a police station, freeing dozens of prisoners in a raid that left more than 20 people dead and at least 40 others wounded. Yet for...

(Participating were Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of operations, Combined Joint Task Force 7, and Dan Senor, senior advisor to the Coalition Provisional Authority.) Senor: Good evening. We apologize for the delay in getting started, the having to postpone. You know, we normally try to stick to 5:00, and we try to stick to it and start promptly. Tonight is an exception. I just have a couple words about Ambassador Bremer's schedule today, and then General Kimmitt will have an opening statement, and then we'll be happy to take your questions. Ambassador Bremer today began meeting with members...

UN team in Iraq to assess if early elections can be held BAGHDAD - Iraq's US-backed Governing Council yesterday met a United Nations team that will judge if elections demanded by the Shi'ites can be held before Washington returns sovereignty to Iraqis at mid-year. The UN delegation, which arrived on Saturday, is the highest-level presence for the global body in Iraq since it quit the state after two bomb attacks on its offices last year. Shielded by rigorous security, the dozen experts will stay in Iraq for up to 10 days, a source close to the UN said. Witnesses said...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Iraqi Governing Council has told the United States a letter it delivered to the U.N. Security Council on Monday asking for a resolution on its timetable for ending the U.S. occupation was a draft version and was sent in error, U.S. officials said on Tuesday. The final version dilutes the Governing Council's request that the Security Council pass a new resolution enshrining the Iraqis' timetable for ending the U.S. occupation, said one senior U.S. official, who asked not to be identified. "Apparently somebody dropped a draft in the mail and the final version doesn't have the...

<p>BAGHDAD -- It has been my privilege to preside over the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) during a month of momentous events. We now have an agreement for the transfer of authority between the Coalition, the liberators, and the IGC, the representatives of the liberated Iraqis. President Bush has outlined an inspiring vision for a free and democratic Middle East. Our American friends are resolutely striking back at the vicious remnants of Saddam's regime and damaging the network of Baathists and foreign Islamists attempting to destroy the Iraqi experiment in democracy. Yet these gains could easily be forfeited if we Iraqis do not bear the brunt of the fighting.</p>

By James Drummond in Baghdad and James Harding and Guy Dinmore in Washington Published: November 11 2003 21:19 | Last Updated: November 11 2003 21:19 Iraq's foreign minister on Tuesday blamed "geriatric ambassadors" from the west and "American infighting" for many of the problems and the security failures bedevilling the US-led occupation of Iraq. The stinging attack from a leading Iraqi on the US-run occupation came as Paul Bremer, the US chief civilian administrator in Baghdad, cancelled a meeting with visiting Polish prime minister Leszek Miller to return at short notice for talks in Washington. US officials said Mr Bremer...