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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wowzer who wrote (26888)	9/2/2003 9:21:37 AM
From: Rick Faurot	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Bomb Hits Iraqi Police; Mine Kills 2 U.S. Soldiers Tue September 2, 2003 05:58 AM ET By Andrew Gray BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A car bomb ripped through a Baghdad police compound on Tuesday in a suspected attempt to assassinate the U.S.-appointed police chief, wounding at least 14 people, officials and witnesses said. News of the latest violence came as tens of thousands of Iraqi Shi'ites converged on the city of Najaf for the funeral of a top Shi'ite cleric, among more than 80 people killed by a car bomb on Friday in the most deadly attack in postwar Iraq. In the latest guerrilla attack, two U.S. soldiers were killed on Monday when their vehicle hit an explosive device on one of Baghdad's main supply routes, a U.S. military spokeswoman said. Tuesday's blast hit a complex housing a training academy for a new U.S.-backed Iraqi police force in the east of Baghdad, starting a large fire and sending a cloud of black smoke into the sky. Brigadier Saeed Muneim, a senior police officer who inspected the scene, said Baghdad police chief Hassan Ali, a key ally of the U.S.-led occupying authorities, was the probable target of the attack. Ali's office was damaged but he was not in the building at the time, police said. Hospital officials said 14 people had been wounded. A U.S. soldier earlier said one Iraqi policeman had been killed. "A car bomb blew up inside the complex," Iraqi police First Lieutenant Nihad Majeed told reporters as U.S. military police sealed off the area and a military helicopter clattered overhead. Guerrillas in postwar Iraq attack occupying forces every day and often also target Iraqis cooperating with them. In Monday's attack on U.S. troops, two soldiers serving with a military police unit were killed when their Humvee all-terrain vehicle ran over a homemade land mine, a military spokeswoman said. The deaths brought to 67 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in action in Iraq since Washington declared major combat over on May 1. U.S. officials blame attacks on occupying forces and other targets on supporters of Saddam Hussein, still on the run nearly five months after he was deposed. But they have also made increasing mention of the presence of al Qaeda and other foreign fighters. EMOTIONAL FUNERAL In the holy city of Najaf, some 160 km (100 miles south of Baghdad), thousands of Iraqis gathered for the funeral of Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim, killed in Friday's car- bombing outside the city's revered Imam Ali mosque. Some of the mourners beat themselves with small metal chains in a traditional Shi'ite ritual as they set out to meet the funeral cortege, which had traveled to Shi'ite holy sites around Iraq over the past few days. Hundreds of thousands of people are expected to pack the city for Hakim's burial later in the day. As usual in Najaf, U.S. soldiers kept a low profile to avoid offending Shi'ites in one of their holiest sites. An audio tape purportedly from Saddam denied he had any part in Friday's bombing, which many Shi'ites blamed on supporters of the former president. Iraq's Shi'ites complained of persecution under Saddam, a Sunni Muslim. Hakim was one of the key leaders in Iraq's majority Shi'ite community and was regarded as a moderate. He had advocated cautious cooperation with U.S.-led occupying forces. Najaf's governor has announced the arrests of up to five suspects he said were linked to Saddam's government. FBI agents are helping with the investigation in Najaf. U.S. Marines will stay longer than planned in the city before handing over to a Polish-led multinational force, a military spokesman said. (Additional reporting by Rosalind Russell in Baghdad and Joseph Logan in Najaf)