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

To: Road Walker who wrote (50909)	7/13/2004 1:09:36 AM
From: T L Comiskey	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 89467

Meanwhile.. back in Iraq. Posted on Mon, Jul. 12, 2004 3 GIs, IRAQI KILLED IN 2 AMBUSHES By RAVI NESSMAN Associated Press BAGHDAD - Insurgents ambushed two U.S. military patrols north of Baghdad in separate attacks yesterday that killed three U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi civilian. Also, the Philippines government rejected an insurgent group's ultimatum to pull its small peacekeeping force out of Iraq. The group has threatened to kill a Filipino man it is holding hostage. In Manila early today, a government spokesman said the hostage-takers extended yesterday's the deadline by two days, an official said. A roadside attack on a patrol in the city of Samarra, a hotbed of violence 60 miles north of Baghdad, killed two soldiers yesterday afternoon and wounded three others, the military said. An earlier ambush of on a U.S. convoy in Beiji, 90 miles south of the northern city of Mosul, began yesterday morning when a roadside bomb exploded. An enemy vehicle then raced toward the convoy, firing at the soldiers, who shot back and killed the driver, the military said. A soldier and a civilian traveling behind the patrol were killed. A second soldier was wounded and evacuated for treatment. Thick black smoke poured over the area from an oil tanker set afire in the attack. The deaths came a day after four U.S. Marines were killed in a vehicle accident near Camp Fallujah in western Iraq. More than 875 service members have died since the beginning of military operations in Iraq. Militants from a group calling itself "The Islamic Army of Iraq - Khaled bin Al-Waleed Brigade" initially gave the Philippines until last night to agree to withdraw its 51-member peacekeeping force by July 20 - a month ahead of schedule. The group threatened to kill truck driver Angelo dela Cruz if the Philippines did not comply. The group extended the deadline by two days, until tomorrow, a Philippines government official said. The extension came hours after the government in Manilla rejected the militants' ultimatum. "In line with our commitment to the free people of Iraq, we reiterate our plan to return our humanitarian contingent as scheduled on Aug. 20, 2004," Foreign Secretary Delia Albert told reporters after an emergency cabinet meeting late yesterday. Dela Cruz's wife and brother were heading to Baghdad, Albert said, and the government remained hopeful he would be released. Philippine negotiators were working through mediators yesterday to try to free dela Cruz, a diplomat in Baghdad with knowledge of the situation said. In a video purportedly from the militants broadcast Sunday on the Arab television station Al-Arabiya, a masked man holding a sword said that if the Philippines complies, dela Cruz will no longer be a hostage but will be held as a protected prisoner of war. After Filipino troops leave, he would be released, the man said. A deadline for two other hostages - Bulgarian truck drivers held by a separate group demanding the release of all Iraqi detainees - expired Saturday morning. Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Pasi said yesterday he had unconfirmed information the two were alive. At a news conference in Bulgaria, Pasi appealed to the hostage takers, saying Islam calls for "mercy for the poor, the hungry and the sick." He said one hostage, Georgi Lazov, had diabetes, while the other, Ivaylo Kepov, had suffered a stroke. The group holding the Bulgarians, the Tawhid and Jihad movement linked to Jordanian terror suspect Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, also claimed responsibility yesterday for an attack Thursday on a military headquarters in the city of Samarra that killed five U.S. soldiers and an Iraqi National Guardsman. To prevent the infiltration of foreign fighters, Syria and Iraq agreed to set up a special force to patrol their 360-mile shared border, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh said yesterday in Damascus, Syria, after meeting with Syrian President Bashar Assad. In other developments: • Demonstrators, some supporting Saddam's ousted regime, others opposed to it, took to the streets of Iraq yesterday. In Baqouba north of Baghdad, about 100 people marched through the shopping district, chanting pro-Saddam slogans, waving rifles and carrying posters of the former leader. Meanwhile, demonstrators in Baghdad held a mock trial and execution of Saddam, hoisting an effigy from a hangman's noose setting it on fire.