The Hindu : Anti-U.S. protests in Iraq put on hold

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 25, 2004

International

International

Anti-U.S. protests in Iraq put on hold

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA, JAN. 24. Iraqi resistance fighters have killed two United States soldiers near the town of Fallujah, west of Baghdad, but demonstrations in southern Iraq against the American plan to position an unelected transitional government by June have been put on hold following a directive by a top Shia clerical leader.

The two American soldiers died when a roadside bomb exploded near their passing convoy, 60 km west of the Iraqi capital.

The strike in Fallujah followed a truck bombing in Samarra, north of Baghdad. The explosion near a police post killed three Iraqis and injured 43 others. The blast in the centre of the town also injured seven American troops.

The killing in Fallujah pushed the U.S. death toll in the war in Iraq to 509. Two American pilots had died on Friday when their OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopter crashed. The cause of the crash is so far unclear.

Meanwhile, the wave of demonstrations against the U.S. transition plan in Iraq has been suspended following a call by the top Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. But a fresh decision on resuming protests is expected after the United Nations gives its verdict on the possibility of holding early direct elections.

Ayatollah Sistani wants direct polls to precede the transition towards Iraqi self-rule, much in contrast to the U.S. blueprint, which envisages appointment of an unelected transitional government by June.

With the U.N. back in focus, one of its senior advisers, Lakhdar Brahimi, held talks on Thursday with top U.S. officials in Washington, including the Secretary of State, Colin Powell, and National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice.

On Friday, a U.N. military adviser and a security coordinator arrived in Baghdad, the first foreign staff to return after the world body left the Iraqi capital following the killing of its top representative, Sergio Vieira de Mello, in August.

The U.N. Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, is reportedly considering dispatching a separate security team as cover for possible group of experts in Iraq who could be involved in determining whether direct elections for a transitional government were feasible.

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