Assailants gunned down the chief of Saddam Hussein's tribe in the ousted leader's hometown of Tikrit a few weeks after he publicly disavowed Saddam. Although the motive was unclear, Abdullah Mahmoud al-Khattab had many enemies, the regional governor said.
Elsewhere in Iraq, US troops shot and killed four people at checkpoints and a mosque explosion killed 10 people in Fallujah, further stirring anti-American sentiment in a town where Saddam and his Baath Party still enjoy support.
PHOTO: AP
Two attacks against American forces on Tuesday wounded at least six soldiers.
In Baghdad, the top US official in Iraq, Paul Bremer, said the US-led provisional authority was "well on track to establish an Iraqi interim administration by mid-July."
"Day by day, conditions in Iraq continue to improve," he said.
Despite his reassurances, a burgeoning insurgency has seen several attacks on US troops every day, leading some to worry about the possibility of a Vietnam-style political and military quagmire.
A delegation of nine US senators on a three-day tour of Iraq expressed confidence on Tuesday in the US mission, but acknowledged that risks remain.
In Tikrit, Abdullah Mahmoud al-Khattab, who was leader of Saddam's Bani al-Nasiri tribe, was shot and killed on Sunday afternoon while he rode in his car.
The killing highlighted the shifting alliances that have characterized Iraq as the country emerges from 35 years of brutal, one-man rule. Even those eager to distance themselves from Saddam often pay dearly for their past links to him.
Saddam still enjoys a degree of popularity in Tikrit, where he built roads and schools and soccer fields.
Most other Iraqis express disdain for Saddam, yet anti-US forces have persisted in stepping up attacks on occupation forces in recent days.
On Tuesday, assailants traveling in a vehicle in central Baghdad fired a rocket-propelled grenade at a US military vehicle, wounding three soldiers. Another grenade slammed into a US truck on a road south of Baghdad, injuring three soldiers.
In western Baghdad, US troops shot and killed two people when their car didn't stop at a checkpoint, witnesses said. Later, two civilians were shot and killed at another checkpoint, one by soldiers who feared he was an insurgent and another by a stray bullet, witnesses said.
The increasing attacks have killed more than 22 US soldiers and wounded dozens more since major combat was declared over on May 1, and many troops have become quicker to pull their guns.
In Fallujah, a blast in a cinderblock building in the courtyard of the al-Hassan mosque killed 10 Iraqis and wounded four late on Monday, said Colonel Guy Shields, spokesman for the US military in Baghdad. Iraqis insisted the blast was caused by a US missile -- an account the military denied.
Fallujah, 55km west of Baghdad, has been a hotbed of anti-US activity and scene of several confrontations involving US troops.
Meanwhile, a weekend explosion at an ammunitions depot killed at least 15 people and injured at least four near Hadithah, 240km northwest of Baghdad.
Amid the renewed violence in Iraq, the US Defense Department is trying to figure out how many postwar troops should stay and when it can bring home some of the longest-serving.
School bullies in Singapore are to face caning under new guidelines, but the education minister on Tuesday said it would be meted out only as a last resort with strict safeguards. Human rights groups regularly criticize Singapore for the use of corporal punishment, which remains part of the school and criminal justice systems, but authorities have defended it as a deterrent to crime and serious misconduct. Caning was discussed in the parliament after legislators asked how it would be used in relation to bullying in schools. The debate followed stricter guidelines on serious student misconduct, including bullying, unveiled by the Singaporean Ministry of
‘GROSS NEGLIGENCE?’ Despite a spleen typically being significantly smaller than a liver, the surgeon said he believed Bryan’s spleen was ‘double the size of what is normal’ A Florida surgeon who is facing criminal charges after allegedly removing a patient’s liver instead of his spleen has said he is “forever traumatized” by that person’s death. In a deposition from November last year that was recently obtained by NBC, 44-year-old Thomas Shaknovsky described the death of 70-year-old William Bryan as an “incredibly unfortunate event that I regret deeply.” Bryan died after the botched surgery; and last month, a grand jury in Tallahassee indicted Shaknovsky on a charge of manslaughter. “I’m forever traumatized by it and hurt by it,” Shaknovsky added, also saying that wrong-site surgeries can happen “during
A MESSAGE: Japan’s participation in the Balikatan drills is a clear deterrence signal to China not to attack Taiwan while the US is busy in the Middle East, an analyst said The Japan Self-Defense Forces yesterday fired a Type 88 anti-ship missile during a joint maritime exercise with US, Australian and Philippine forces, hitting a decommissioned Philippine Navy ship in waters facing the disputed South China Sea, in drills that underscore Tokyo’s rising willingness to project military power on China’s doorstep. The drill took place as Manila and Tokyo began talks on a potential defense equipment transfer, made possible by Japan’s decision to scrap restrictions on military exports. The discussions include the possible early transfer of Abukuma-class destroyers and TC-90 aircraft to the Philippines, Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. Philippine Secretary of
A South Korean judge who last week more than doubled former South Korean first lady Kim Keon-hee’s prison sentence was found dead yesterday, police said. Shin Jong-o was found unconscious at about 1am at the Seoul High Court building, an investigator at the Seocho District Police Station in Seoul said. Shin was taken to a hospital and pronounced dead, he said. “There is no sign of foul play in the death,” the investigator added. Local media reported that Shin had left a suicide note, but the investigator said there was none. On Tuesday last week, Shin presided over 53-year-old Kim’s appeal trial, finding her guilty
RSS