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To: T L Comiskey who wrote (29693)	10/7/2003 9:29:00 AM
From: T L Comiskey	Respond to of 89467

3 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Central Iraq By STEVEN R. HURST BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Three U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter were killed and three other service members were wounded in a pair of roadside bombings in central Iraq, the U.S. military said Tuesday. They were the first reported deaths by hostile fire of American soldiers in Iraq since Friday. In the first attack, one soldier attached to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment was killed and another wounded in a bombing about 9:50 p.m. Monday just west of the Iraqi capital, the U.S. Central Command said in a statement. About an hour later, another roadside bombing killed two soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division and their Iraqi translator, the military said. Two other soldiers were injured in the bombing, which took place in al-Haswah, about 25 miles south of Baghdad. The latest deaths bring to 91 the number of American soldiers killed by hostile fire in Iraq since President Bush declared an end to major combat operations here May 1. A total of 320 U.S. service members have died in Iraq since the United States and Britain launched military operations against Saddam Hussein's government on March 20. The military also reported a helicopter made a hard landing at the U.S. air base near Habaniya just west of Baghdad. Two soldiers were slightly injured. U.S. troops carried out a raid Tuesday and captured an officer in the former Iraqi army's special forces who allegedly helped organize bombings and other attacks against American forces, the military said. The arrest in a pre-dawn raid in the city of Baqouba, north of Baghdad, came as a roadside bomb exploded near a convoy of U.S. troops driving near central Tikrit, slightly injuring three soldiers. The former officer was captured along with six other people and U.S. troops discovered a suitcase full of bomb making materials along with small arms, rocket propelled grenades and mortar sights, various passports, large amounts of ammunition and a large sum of money, Maj. Josslyn Aberle, a spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry Division, said. She said the passports included one from Germany, one from Russia and a number from countries in the region - all belonging to the former officer. He was not identified and no further details were available. Also Tuesday, large sections of Baghdad were in turmoil after an explosion inside the Foreign Ministry compound, former intelligence officers demanding back pay or jobs hurled paving stones at American forces and U.S. solders confronted a big demonstration of Shiite Muslims after closing a mosque and allegedly arresting the imam. There were no known injuries in any of the incidents, but traffic in the center of the capital was at a near standstill with streets around the Foreign Ministry and Saddam Hussein's former Republican Palace - headquarters of the U.S.-lead Coalition Provisional Authority - blocked by U.S. soldiers in armored vehicles and Iraqi police. The compounds are about a half-mile apart. U.S. Army Maj. John Frisbie said there was a crater about a foot in diameter cause by an explosion in the parking lot at the ministry. Some shrubbery had been damaged, but no one was wounded, Frisbie said, adding that there was no sign of a mortar attack. But witness Hussein Amin said a mortar shell or rocket-propelled grenade was fired at the ministry compound, landed near the office of Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari and broke windows. Zebari was not there. Workers in the compound came streaming out. Iraqi guards fired rifles in the air shortly after the midmorning blast. The U.S. military press office said it was aware of ``a situation'' at the Foreign Ministry but had no details. Two U.S. armored personnel carriers and five Humvees had sped to the scene. The ministry is also about a half mile from the Al-Rasheed Hotel, where many U.S. officials live. The hotel was attacked by small rockets or rocket-propelled grenades on Sept. 27, causing no casualties and minimal damage. Security was already tight in the palace area because of demonstration Tuesday by about 2,000 former employees of the Iraqi intelligence service who are demanding they get their old jobs back. The intelligence officers have been protesting weekly to demand pay or jobs. After the protest, paving stones littered the street near the palace and the strands of concertina wire which provide security in the area had been flattened by the protesters. In southwest Baghdad, U.S. soldiers in about 20 Humvees with two helicopters overhead confronted some 600 demonstrators at a Shiite Muslim mosque, with protesters claiming the Americans had illegally detained their imam. Sheikh Mohammed al-Sudani said mosque preacher Moayed al-Karzraji was arrested Monday as he lead a 12-man delegation to negotiate with the Americans in the municipal council building. The group was briefing detained and handcuffed by soldiers, al-Sudani said. Everyone in the group was released, he said, but the imam who was taken to an unknown location. It was not immediately clear what negotiations were planned. The military said it was checking on the arrest allegations. Al-Sudani accused the Americans of putting hand grenades in the mosque on Monday as a pretext for arresting the imam and sealing the building. Protesters shouted ``America equals Saddam'' and ``Today we are raising banners tomorrow we will raise weapons.'' According to one of the organizers, the protesters plan a sit-in until al-Khazraji is released. Later the crowd swelled to about 3,000 when demonstrators arrived from the Shiite slum of Sadr City in the east of Baghdad. But the crowd dispersed on its own after the promise of lunch proved false. U.S. soldiers withdrew from the area around the mosque, leaving about 200 people inside. Last week, U.S. soldiers fired warning shots over the heads of stone-throwing Shiites outside al-Karzraji's mosque after the cleric was questioned by U.S. and Iraqi authorities for allegedly inflammatory sermons. Shiites, the majority of Iraq's 25 million people, have been generally more accepting of the U.S. occupation than Sunnis, the foundation of the former regime. Many Shiites opposed Saddam because of his bloody crackdown on a Shiite uprising after Iraq's defeat in the 1991 Gulf War. EDITOR'S NOTE: AP reporter Sameer N. Yacoub contributed to this report.