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Rice makes surprise visit to Iraq

An Iraqi soldier inspects the site where car bomb exploded in central Baghdad yesterday, wounding seven people, as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made a surprise visit to Baghdad. PHOTO: AFP

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to Iraq yesterday, stopping in the mostly Sunni Arab town of Mosul to call for all Iraqis to participate in upcoming elections, while three US troops were reported killed in combat.

Two US soldiers died after being hit by small arms fire on Thursday during combat operations in Khaldiyah, 120km west of Baghdad, the statement said. The soldiers were members of a US army unit detailed to the 2nd Marine Division, operating in western Iraq.

syrian border

In a separate incident along the Syrian border, a US Marine also assigned to the 2nd Marine Division was killed on Thursday by a roadside bomb in Karabilah, about 320km west of Baghdad, another military statement said. The marine died in Operation Steel Curtain, a major push to take control of the Syrian border.

The names of the deceased and their unit were being withheld pending notification of next of kin.

As of yesterday, at least 2,059 members of the US military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an AP count. At least 1,604 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers. The figures include five military civilians.

Three Iraqi police were killed yesterday when their vehicle was ambushed near Baqouba, 60km northeast of Baghdad, officers at a regional command center said.

casualties

Insurgents ambushed a US convoy yesterday north of Baghdad, destroying two oil tankers, witnesses said. There were unconfirmed reports of US casualties.

Rice arrived the day after a suicide bomber killed 35 people at a Baghdad restaurant favored by police, and a car bomb killed seven at an Iraqi army recruiting center to the north. More than 30 people were wounded in the attacks.

"I want to talk about the importance of reaching across sectarian lines," Rice said on her unannounced visit to the Iraqi city.
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