Agencies

TIKRIT/BASRA, 16 January 2004 — US soldiers in three separate incidents killed seven Iraqis Wednesday north of Baghdad, the US Army said.

Soldiers shot dead six insurgents during two attacks around the restive town of Baquba, a bastion of resistance and sympathizers of the old regime, said Sergeant Robert Cargie yesterday.

Another suspected rebel was shot dead and one wounded near Tikrit, the hometown of jailed President Saddam Hussein, Cargie added.

“Four attackers were killed and one wounded as a result of the ensuing fire fight” in the village of Abu Kharma, 15 km west of Baquba, Cargie said. The deaths occurred as US soldiers raided 28 locations in the village searching for Fedayeen, members of a paramilitary force formed by Saddam’s slain son Uday, Cargie said.

During the raids, part of Operation Warhorse Whirlwind, the troops from the third battalion- 67th armored regiment captured 31 people including eight wanted individuals.

The soldiers also seized 19 AK-47s and three machine-guns, various weapons and ammunition, including 15 pounds of plastic explosives and three homemade bombs, Cargie said.

In the second incident, two Iraqis were killed after a patrol spotted four men gathered southeast of Khalis, 10 km northwest of Baquba, who fled as the soldiers approached.

“The soldiers warned them to stop and fired warning shots prior to firing on the men,” Cargie said.

“The two were killed and two escaped. It was unclear whether they were planting an IED (improvised explosive device),” Cargie said.

In the final incident, a patrol was attacked south of Jallulla, near Tikrit, when a bomb exploded and the soldiers came under small arms fire.

“Soldiers returned fire and killed one of the attackers,” Cargie said.

One of the rebels managed to escape, but the soldiers later stopped a car and found the second attacker, who was wounded, hiding in the trunk.

The troops also discovered remnants of two other bombs with wires running to a remote detonator, along with a machine gun and a hand grenade, Cargie said.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Shiites shouting “No to America!” marched yesterday through this southern city to back their leader’s call for early elections, a stand that could stymie a US blueprint for transferring power to a new Iraqi administration.

The peaceful demonstration in Basra followed a string of violent incidents across the country.

An estimated 20,000-30,000 Shiites turned out to support Grand Ayatollah Ali Al-Husseini Al-Sistani’s demand that an interim legislature be elected directly and not chosen in provincial caucuses, as called for under the American plan.

The massive demonstration showed that the United States cannot afford to take Al-Sistani’s criticism of the transfer plans lightly.

Smaller demonstrations also took place yesterday in Baghdad, Ramadi and Mosul, of a few hundred people each, cautioning against aspects of the US plan for Iraq’s future, which they fear will divide the country.

Under the current plan, the US will transfer power by July 1 to a provisional Iraqi government to be created by a legislature chosen by provincial caucuses. The plan envisions a two-year political transition before full elections in 2005.

US officials say Al-Sistani’s demand for elections to choose members of the assembly are unreasonable because a credible election could not be conducted on such short notice due to the country’s precarious security situation. Iraqi leaders and US authorities hope a meeting in New York on Monday with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan will help resolve the impasse over Al-Sistani’s objections.

Annan has written to the US appointed Governing Council, saying that holding a credible election before June 30 may be impossible. Shiite council members dismissed that as the view of “faraway” experts unfamiliar with the realities of Iraq. Many Iraqis would like the United Nations to play a major role in the transfer of power.

“If the agreement is implemented under the supervision of the Americans alone or the coalition as a whole, it will be deficient because it will have been carried out under occupation,” said Mahmoud Othman, a Kurdish Governing Council member.

“But if it’s implemented under the supervision of the United Nations, the Europeans and the Arab League, then it will be much more acceptable.”

The question of legitimacy has dogged Iraqi politics since the downfall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in April. Many Iraqis view the Governing Council as a tool of US administrator Paul Bremer, who handpicked its 25 members in July. Many council members are Saddam critics who spent many years outside Iraq before returning home.