Three US soldiers were killed in separate attacks around Iraq, while US overseer Paul Bremer warned that he could veto the country's temporary constitution if it did not fit the US vision of democracy.
Capping a bloody day for the coalition, a US soldier was killed and another wounded late Monday afternoon when a bomb exploded as their convoy passed along on a road near Tall Afar in northern Iraq.
The convoy then came under fire, but there were no further casualties, the military said.
Earlier Monday two US soldiers were killed and five others wounded in separate roadside bomb blasts within an hour of each other in Baghdad and the northeastern city of Baquba.
According to Pentagon figures, attacks by insurgents have claimed the lives of 261 US soldiers since US President George W. Bush declared major combat over in Iraq on May 1.
Meanwhile, US civil administrator Paul Bremer signaled he was willing to use the occupation's veto if the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council drafted a temporary constitution that challenged the spirit of Western-style democracy.
"The Transition Administrative law will establish equal rights. The text of the current draft established Islam as the state religion, but says it will be a source of inspiration for law," Bremer said during a tour of a women's center on Monday in Karbala.
He vowed that the new law would protect civil liberties according to the agreement he reached with the Governing Council last November that set June 30 as the final day of the US-led occupation.
Meanwhile, the coalition's deputy operations chief, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, said that a crude bomb exploded at a school in a Shiite district of Baghdad, killing two children and wounding four others.
A rebel group claiming to represent Islamist militants in the restive town of Fallujah, meanwhile, denied any involvement in a raid that killed 23 policemen on Saturday and called for a halt to all attacks on Iraqi security forces.
In Baghdad, China's first delegation of diplomats since the US-led invasion arrived on Monday to prepare for the re-opening of the Chinese embassy.
The 13-member delegation is headed by charge d'affaires Sun Bigan and comprises diplomats from the commerce and foreign ministries and six armed Chinese policemen.
Gaza is rapidly running out of its limited fuel supply and stocks of food staples might become tight, officials said, after Israel blocked the entry of fuel and goods into the war-shattered territory, citing fighting with Iran. The Israeli military closed all Gaza border crossings on Saturday after announcing airstrikes on Iran carried out jointly with the US. Israeli authorities late on Monday night said that they would reopen the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel to Gaza yesterday, for “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the strip, without saying how much. Israeli authorities previously said the crossings could not be operated safely during
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
Counting was under way in Nepal yesterday, after a high-stakes parliamentary election to reshape the country’s leadership following protests last year that toppled the government. Key figures vying for power include former Nepalese prime minister K. P. Sharma Oli, rapper-turned-mayor Balendra Shah, who is bidding for the youth vote, and newly elected Nepali Congress party leader Gagan Thapa. In Kathmandu’s tea shops and city squares, people were glued to their phones, checking results as early trends flashed up — suggesting Shah’s centrist Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) was ahead. Nepalese Election Commission spokesman Prakash Nyupane said the counting was ongoing “in a peaceful manner”
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