US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld yesterday made a surprise visit to Iraq, as US and Iraqi troops retook control of a police station south of Baghdad after a fierce battle that left dozens dead.
In further violence, at least seven people were killed at a bakery in the capital while five Iraqi soldiers died in attacks elsewhere.
Rumsfeld, the highest-ranking US official to visit Iraq since the landmark Jan. 30 elections, told US troops they could "go home with honor" once Iraqi forces were able to defeat insurgents on their own.
His first stop was the strife-torn northern city of Mosul and he then headed on to Baghdad for talks with officials.
He told several hundred soldiers, including some Iraqi forces gathered at Mosul's airport, that it would "take some time" to train security forces but the Iraqis must prepare themselves.
"Because it is the Iraqis who are going to have to, over time, defeat the insurgents. It is their country. It is their responsibility," Rumsfeld said.
"Once they have confidence and capacity and capability, our forces, coalition forces, will be able to go home. And go home with the honor you will have earned," he said.
The situation was tense in the Iraqi town of Salman Pak after a battle which saw rebels firing rockets, mortars and machine guns and besiege one police station in the town about 20km south of Baghdad.
American helicopters were sent to the scene Thursday and opened fired to dislodge the insurgents.
The town was sealed off yesterday by Iraqi and US troops but police said it was calm.
"According to our latest toll there were 10 police killed and 75 wounded," a Salman Pak police official told reporters.
He added that 46 police vehicles were destroyed and that the fighting lasted several hours.
Iraqi National Security Adviser Qassem Daoud said that 20 insurgents had been killed and 21 arrested.
"We have never seen such fighting," said the official in Salman Pak.
"Now the interior ministry quick reaction forces and American soldiers are in control."
The bodies of more than 20 truck drivers and four Iraqi police and soldiers were found in the same region.
Their convoy had been attacked at least two days earlier, police said, but no one had dared touch them.
In a further sign of insecurity, police said that at least seven people had died in an early morning attack on a bakery in eastern Baghdad.
"The attack on the `Happiness Bakery' opposite the Al-Rashad police station killed seven and we think this is a criminal or tribal dispute," police said.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
AMENDMENT: Climate change is expected to increase the frequency of high-temperature days, affecting economic productivity and public health, experts said The Central Weather Administration (CWA) is considering amending the Meteorological Act (氣象法) to classify “high temperatures” as “hazardous weather,” providing a legal basis for work or school closures due to extreme heat. CWA Administrator Lu Kuo-chen (呂國臣) yesterday said the agency plans to submit the proposed amendments to the Executive Yuan for review in the fourth quarter this year. The CWA has been monitoring high-temperature trends for an extended period, and the agency contributes scientific data to the recently established High Temperature Response Alliance led by the Ministry of Environment, Lu said. The data include temperature, humidity, radiation intensity and ambient wind,
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist