From Sioux...
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Cindy has some new moms to join the horrible club.
Six U.S. Soldiers Killed in Iraq Bombings
By ANTONIO CASTANEDA, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 32 minutes ago
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Six U.S. soldiers died in roadside bombings and a shooting,
the military said Sunday, as lawmakers rushed to persuade Sunni Arabs to accept
federalism provisions in the draft constitution that is due in one day.
With intense negotiations continuing just hours before parliament was to
ratify the charter, one Shiite legislator, Jawad al-Maliki, told The Associated
Press that the deadline might have to be extended.
"If we don't reach an agreement today, we might amend the interim
constitution and extend the deadline by a minimum of two weeks," he said.
However, U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said the document was on track to
be finished on time.
"The Iraqis tell me that they can finish it and they will finish it
tomorrow," said Khalilzad in a televised interview." "There are options, obviously,
should they need it, but at this point, my information is — and I've just come
from a meeting with the Iraqi leaders _that they intend to finish it tomorrow."
Amendments to the country's current charter can be made only with the
approval of three-fourths of parliament and unanimous approval of the president and
his two deputies. Parliament announced that their next meeting would be Monday
at 6 p.m. local time (10 a.m. EDT).
Elsewhere, the U.S. military said three soldiers were killed and one other
wounded in a roadside bombing late Saturday near Tuz Khormato, 95 miles north of
Baghdad.
One soldier on a patrol was killed Sunday and three others wounded in a blast
east of Rutbah, 250 miles west of Baghdad, the military said. In another
roadside bombing, one soldier was killed Saturday and another wounded in western
Baghdad.
On Friday a U.S. commander said the number of roadside bomb attacks against
American convoys in Iraq had doubled in the past year to about 30 per week.
Dozens of bombings, usually detonated by remote control, target U.S. and Iraqi
patrols each day.
The military said in a brief statement from Baghdad that one soldier was
found dead Friday of a gunshot wound. The military said an investigation was
underway and did not say where the soldier was found or if an attack was suspected
in the soldier's death.
The beheaded body of an unidentified woman was found in the violent southern
neighborhood of Dora, police 1st Lt. Thaer Mahmoud said. Two bodies, including
one that was beheaded, were found in eastern Mosul, 360 kilometers (225
miles) northwest of Baghdad, police and hospital officials said.
A roadside bomb along a highway killed one civilian Sunday and injured
another in Mahmoudiya, about 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Baghdad, police Capt.
Saad al-Samaraei said.
Shootings, a mortar attack and a bombing also wounded another 10 people
across the capital, police said, and a senior Iraqi Central Bank official, Haseeb
Kadum, was kidnapped outside his home.
Elsewhere, a police officer was killed and two others injured in a drive-by
shooting in Kirkuk, 180 miles north of Baghdad, police Col. Farhad Talabani
said. Gunmen also killed one border guard and injured three others near the
northeast town of Khanaqin close to the Iranian border, police said.
Also in Khanaqin, over one thousand Kurds marched to demand that several
northern cities such as Sinjar and Kirkuk be included in an autonomous Kurdish
region in the north.
In Baghdad, leaders from Iraq's three major groups tried to resolve
contentious issues in the constitution such as federalism, but a top Sunni official
said his group would never accept terms that they fear will lead to the division
of the country.
Other issues, such as the role of Islam in the government and the
distribution of wealth, were also on the table.
A meeting of Iraqi leaders took place Sunday between President Jalal
Talabani, Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani, former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and
parliament Speaker Hajim al-Hassani, according to Kurdish legislator Mahmoud Othman
said.
Othman said another planned session between Sunni politicians and Barzani was
scheduled Sunday. Kurdish and Shiite leaders were to meet at the office of
Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari in the evening.
A parliament session scheduled for Sunday was postponed because many
legislators were working on the constitution, said Aref Tayfour, the deputy speaker of
the assembly.
Talabani predicted Saturday that a draft constitution would be ready by the
deadline, and a Kurdish official said the draft would be presented to
parliament with or without Sunni approval. Sunni leaders said they were not bound by
agreements reached by Shiite and Kurdish leaders.
"We will not be subdued and will continue to cling to our stance," Sunni
negotiator Kamal Hamdoun said Saturday. "We don't accept federalism ... We don't
want federalism. We are confident that federalism means division and federalism
cannot be approved at this time."
However, Othman cautioned Saturday that "if the Sunnis refuse to accept the
agreements, we will present the draft as it is to the National Assembly."
That strategy could backfire, however, in the Oct. 15 referendum when voters
will be asked to ratify the constitution. According to the country's interim
charter, the constitution will be void if it is rejected by two-thirds of
voters in three of the 18 provinces. Sunni Arabs are a majority in four.
The U.S. considers the charter a key part of the process to curb a
Sunni-dominated insurgency. In his weekly radio address, U.S. President George W. Bush
said that the Iraqi constitution "is a critical step on the path to Iraqi
self-reliance."
Negotiations were thrown into a tailspin Thursday when the leader of the
biggest Shiite party, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim, called for a Shiite autonomous
government in central and southern Iraq, including the southern oil fields. The demand
was immediately rejected by Sunni Arab delegates.
news.yahoo.com
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