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Five U.S. Marines Killed in Iraq
By PATRICK QUINN, Associated Press Writer
40 minutes ago
A militant strapped with more than 100 pounds of explosives and
disguised in an army uniform blew himself up in a crowded mess hall
Wednesday as brutal attacks across Iraq killed more than 50 people. In
a dramatic raid, Iraqi and U.S. forces freed Australian hostage Douglas
Wood, held by insurgents for 47 days.
Meanwhile, five U.S. Marines were killed by roadside bomb attack
Wednesday on their vehicle near Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, the
U.S. military said Thursday. The five were assigned to the 2nd Marine
Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force.
The swell in violence - which caused the highest daily death toll in
more than three weeks - appeared aimed at derailing stepped-up
efforts by Shiite politicians to bring the disaffected Sunni Arab
minority into the political process. The two groups are trying to write
a groundbreaking constitution and gain necessary approval to allow
government-building to move forward.
Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for the mess hall bombing at an
army base in Khalis, about 45 miles north of Baghdad. The attacker "was
invited to this lunch, and we ask Allah that he finishes his food in
paradise," al-Qaida said in an Internet statement posted on a militant
web site.
The militant, wearing an army uniform and strapped with about 110
pounds of explosives, waited until soldiers gathered for lunch before
blowing himself up, said Iraqi army Col. Saleh Al-Obeidi. The blast
killed 26 soldiers and wounded another 26 belonging to the Al-Salam
battalion of the 2nd Brigade of the Iraqi army in Diyala province, the
army said.
"I couldn't recognize one body from another. Body parts were scattered
everywhere, because it was a huge blast," al-Obeidi said. "It is a
fortified base, and we never believed any incident would occur inside
this base."
The man apparently was among a group of construction workers hired to
expand the mess hall's kitchen and "that's why he was able to go this
far," al-Obeidi said.
"The attacker picked the right time to carry out the attack, when two
army groups were supposed to be inside for lunch. He blew himself up as
soon as he entered the hall, avoiding all the soldiers so they would
not recognize that he was a stranger," al-Obeidi said.
The explosives allegedly were brought onto the base Tuesday inside
several trucks carrying construction materials, he said.
It was the second attack involving a suicide bomber in two days. On
Tuesday, a man wearing a similar belt loaded with explosives killed 23
people and wounded nearly 100 after blowing himself up outside a bank
in Kirkuk. Al-Qaida's northern affiliate, the Ansar al-Sunnah Army,
claimed responsibility.
Wood, dressed in traditional Arabic garb, was found huddled beneath a
blanket, and residents of the home insisted he was their ailing father.
But troops, who were acting on a tip, would not be deterred.
Wood, who is married to an American woman and lives in Alamo, Calif.,
was haggard but smiling broadly as he gave cameras a thumbs-up during a
medical checkup at a U.S. military facility.
"He has been blindfolded, handcuffed, he has not been well looked
after," Australia's counterterrorism chief Nick Warner said after Wood
was freed from a house in one of Baghdad's most dangerous
neighborhoods.
Also Wednesday in eastern Baghdad, a suicide car bomber slammed into
two police cars on patrol, killing 10 people, including eight police
officers, and injured another 23. The suicide bomber drove a German
luxury car into the police cars as they were stopped at an
intersection, police said.
Three mortar shells fell on Abu Ali Restaurant, a well-known Baghdad
kebab eatery, killing five Iraqis and wounding eight, police said. A
nearby police headquarters was the apparent target, police said.
Insurgents kidnapped and killed two senior officers in Kirkuk's
anti-terrorist squad, along with their driver and the son of one of the
men. The bodies of all four were found dumped streetside in the
northern city with gunshots to their heads.
The tribunal that will put Saddam Hussein on trial released its second
videotape in a week Wednesday, this one showing an investigating judge
questioning three senior officials of the former dictator's regime -
including Saddam's half brother Sabawi Ibrahim. A tape released Monday
showed Saddam being questioned for his alleged role in killing of 50
Kurds.
Iraqi legislators, meanwhile, seemed close to agreement on a demand by
Sunni Arabs for more participation in the effort to draft a
constitution.
A Shiite-dominated parliamentary committee drafting Iraq's new
constitution offered a compromise to the country's Sunni Arab minority
in an effort to break a deadlock over demands they have a bigger say in
drawing up the charter.
The offer suggested that 13 additional Sunni Arabs join the committee
in a parallel body.
The Sunni Arab community has said it wants 25 more people to join their
two legislators already on the committee, and the two Sunni Arab
representatives rejected the offer. But representatives from Sunni Arab
community will meet Thursday to discuss the proposal.
An agreement on the constitution would help defuse growing sectarian
tension between the majority Shiites, who control the government, and
the Sunnis. The minority is thought to make up the core of an
insurgency that has killed at least 1,071 people since Prime Minister
Ibrahim al-Jaafari's government was announced April 28, including 54
killed on May 23.
At least 1,713 U.S. military members have died since the war began in
2003, according to an AP count.
In other developments Wednesday:
=B7 Two former Iraqi military officers with alleged links to al-Qaida
were arrested while planting roadside bombs. The Interior Ministry
identified them as former Maj. Gen. Abid Dawood Salman and his son,
former Capt. Raid Abid Dawood.
=B7 A Iraqi civilian was killed and six police officers were injured in
a gunbattle with insurgents in Baghdad's western Saydiyah neighborhood.
=B7 Seven people, including two police officers, were killed in the
northern town of Tal Afar in clashes with insurgents, Police Brig. Gen.
Naji Abdullah said.
___
Associated Press reporters Ali Mohammed Sultan in Baqouba and Sameer N.
Yacoub and Omar Sinan in Baghdad contributed to this report.
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