The Hindu : 3 U.S. soldiers, two Iraqis die in blast

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 18, 2004

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International

3 U.S. soldiers, two Iraqis die in blast

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA, JAN.17. With the Iraqi resistance killing three U.S. soldiers in a roadside bomb attack near Baghdad on Saturday morning, the American death toll since the war in Iraq began has reached 500.

According to a U.S. military spokesman, two Iraqi civil defence personnel also were killed when the armoured troop vehicle in which they were travelling ran into the bomb.

The vehicle caught fire killing the five and wounding two Americans. The incident took place near Taji, about 32 km north of the Iraqi capital.

In an incident not related to combat, one American soldier was killed near Diwaniyah, south of Baghdad.

While the Iraqi resistance has been most fierce in the Sunni dominated areas, there were fresh signs on Friday that the majority Shias had begun active preparations to confront the Americans.

Led by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, head of the Marja or the collective religious forum that is the final source of spiritual authority, the Shias have gone public in announcing their opposition to the U.S. plans to appoint an unelected transitional government in Iraq by July this year.

On Friday, Sheikh Abdel Mahdi al-Karbalai, representative of Ayatollah Sistani said: "In the coming days and months, we're going to see protests and strikes and civil disobedience and perhaps confrontations with the occupying force if it insists on its colonial and diabolical plans to design the country's politics for its own interests." He pointed out that "In these closed-door meetings, they (the Americans) want to decide the political, social, economic and even geographical future of Iraq for their own benefit. I guarantee you that the Marja is determined to continue this battle until the end."

An agency report quoted Mr. Al-Karbalai as saying, "We have not yet reached an impasse, but we must prepare the Iraqi people psychologically to support the Marja because we do not know what will happen these next three or four months but it will be decisive." Members of Ayatollah Sistani's inner circle reportedly said that the revered religious head met Shia tribal leaders from Samawa and Rumaythato to acquaint them with the recent developments. The tribes had collaborated with the Shia clergy in the anti-British rebellion in 1920. Referring to the revolt, Ayatollah Sistani reportedly told them that "You must play a great role, just as you played a role in the 1920 revolt".

Reports from Najaf, the seat of the Marja, say that the congregations for Friday prayers were higher than normal. Faced with the Shia unrest, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, has rushed to Washington for consultations. On Monday, he is expected to meet the U.N. Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, in what is seen as an effort to draw the world body in the appointment of a transitional government in Iraq.

Troops from Japan, a key American ally, on their way to Iraq, have arrived in the Persian Gulf area.

The commander of the U.S. forces in Iraq has ordered a criminal investigation into reports of maltreatment of prisoners at a detention centre run by the occupation forces. The announcement followed allegations by Amnesty International and former prisoners arrested by the U.S. forces and its allies that the detainees were being treated harshly.

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