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Militant attacks kill four in Iraq

Militants unleashed attacks in a northeastern Iraq city that left four people wounded, officials said yesterday, as the country hosted US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.

Gunmen opened fire late on Monday on a police patrol in the city of Kirkuk, injuring two security service members, police Brigadier Sarhat Kadier said.

Attackers also placed a bomb in the undercarriage of a doctor's car, but the device exploded as the physician entered a Kirkuk store to buy bread, sparing him but wounding two nearby civilians, Kadir said. It wasn't known why attackers targeted the doctor.

Kirkuk is 290km north of Baghdad -- where Rumsfeld arrived before dawn yesterday for his second visit in three months.

The visit by Rumsfeld, who helped design the US-led March 2003 invasion and troubled occupation since, reflected a desire to push the political and military momentum that he believes has been growing since the Jan. 30 elections for a national assembly.

Rumsfeld was expected to meet later yesterday with interim President Jalal Talabani, a former Kurdish rebel leader, and Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, a Shiite Muslim.

En route from Washington, Rumsfeld told reporters he would press the new Iraqi leadership to avoid delays on either the political or security front at a time when US troops are still being killed or wounded and billions of US taxpayer dollars are being invested in rebuilding the country.

"It's important that the new government be attentive to the competence of the people in the ministries and that they avoid unnecessary turbulence," Rumsfeld said.

Some in the administration of US President George W. Bush are concerned that factional maneuvering during the formation of the transitional government could undermine the counterinsurgency effort that is a key to eventually pulling US troops out of Iraq.

"Anything that would delay that or disrupt that as a result of turbulence or incompetence or corruption in government would be unfortunate," Rumsfeld said.

Late Monday, the US embassy in Iraq announced the kidnapping of a US citizen.

A spokesman said the US contractor, who was working on a reconstruction project, had been abducted around noon Monday. The spokesman didn't release the contractor's identity or other details, but said the abductee's family had been informed.

In a small victory against a spate of kidnappings targeting Iraqis and foreigners, a Defense Ministry official said on Monday that Iraqi security forces arrested a man who claimed responsibility for last year's kidnapping of two French journalists.

The hostages, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, were released last December after four months in captivity.

Iraqi soldiers captured Amer Hussein Sheikhan in the Mahmoudiya area on April 4, the official said, without further details.
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