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"Militants, U.S. Troops Clash in Kufa

By MARIAM FAM, Associated Press Writer

KUFA, Iraq - Militants loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr clashed Wednesday with U.S. forces near a mosque in this Shiite holy city, and hospital officials said at least three Iraqis were killed and 16 others wounded.

Explosions rocked the industrial sections of Kufa, where Shiite leaders have been struggling to save a shaky cease-fire. Many of the injured suffered shrapnel wounds from a mortar round that missed a U.S. convoy, witnesses said.


Gunfire reverberated through the largely deserted streets as fighters loyal to al-Sadr took positions near the mosque, where gunbattles have raged in past days.


Clashes have plagued the city nearly every day since Shiite leaders announced an agreement by al-Sadr to end a two-month old standoff with the Americans here and in the twin city of Najaf.


One proposal under discussion calls for al-Sadr's militia to withdraw from Najaf over a 72-hour period. In return, American troops would stay away from Shiite holy sites in Najaf and Kufa — where U.S. and militia forces have battled since al-Sadr launched an anti-occupation uprising in early April.


Ahmad al-Shibani, an official from al-Sadr's office in Najaf, said al-Sadr's movement will likely have objections to the deal because it calls for them to surrender their weapons and provides for joint patrols including U.S. soldiers and Iraqi police.


In Baghdad, a series of explosions rolled across the city Tuesday even as a new, post-occupation government for Iraq (news - web sites) was announced, with Ghazi al-Yawer, a critic of the U.S.-led occupation, named as president.


In the largest blast, a car bomb exploded outside the offices of the pro-American Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, near the headquarters of the U.S.-run coalition, killing three and wounding 20.


The blast occurred only a half-hour after about 400 people left a party celebrating the 29th anniversary of the founding of the PUK, whose militia fought alongside American soldiers in the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein (news - web sites) last year.


Party leader Jalal Talabani was not in the office when the blast occurred, a party spokesman said.


In Sulaimaniyah, where the PUK is based, authorities stepped up security Wednesday, increasing the number of vehicle checkpoints and police patrols.


Outside the capital on Tuesday, a roadside bomb exploded near the U.S. military base, killing 11 Iraqis and wounding 23, near Beiji, 150 miles north of Baghdad. Two 1st Infantry Division soldiers were also wounded, the military said.


U.S. officials say insurgents will step up attacks in the days leading to the June 30 transfer of sovereignty from the U.S.-led occupation authority to the interim Iraqi government.


The new prime minister, Iyad Allawi, told a ceremony announcing the new government that Iraqis, "like other peoples of the world," do not want to live under foreign occupation but still will need American and other multinational forces "to help in defeating the enemies of Iraq."


Despite the talk of stability and a new beginning for Iraq, violence continued in widely scattered parts of this country.


In Sadr City, militiamen fired rocket-propelled grenades at U.S. soldiers in sporadic clashes. It was not known if anyone was hurt in the exchanges.


Two Polish contractors and five other employees of a construction company were abducted Tuesday near Baghdad, but one of the Poles escaped, a Polish army spokesman said.





The group was abducted from their office and forced into a car, before one got away, Polish spokesman Lt. Col. Robert Strzelecki said. Authorities are searching for the missing people, including three Kurdish security guards and two other staffers whose nationality was not immediately known, he said.

Also Tuesday, thousands of Iraqis cheered and threw stones as U.S. Marines pulled out of Khaldiyah, a largely Sunni Muslim area and a center of the anti-American insurgency about 50 miles northwest of Baghdad.

The withdrawal took place under an agreement brokered with local clerics for Iraqi security forces to take over, said Lt. Col. Hammad Shahir Sarhan of the Iraqi forces.

U.S. officials have said they will gradually hand over security duties as the country takes sovereignty.

Later Tuesday, witnesses reported an oil fire at the main pump line leading north from Beiji, near the town of Sherqat, some 160 miles north of Baghdad. It was unclear what caused the fire. Iraq's pipelines are often targeted in attacks."

Dammit, just attack them already and call it a day.




"O stranger passing by,
go tell the Lacedaemonians that here,
faithful to their bidding, we lie"

Epitath of the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae