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6 Iraqis Dead In Gas Station Fire, Witnesses Accuse U.S.
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A U.S. soldier directs a crowd back from the site of the explosion
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BAGHDAD,
May 1 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - At least six Iraqis were
killed Thursday, May 1, in a fire at a gas station in central Baghdad,
which some witnesses said was ignited by American firing.
An
employee at the
Karama
Hospital
who helped evacuate the wounded said one of the wounded reported
hearing shots fired at a gas tank just before the fire broke out,
Agence France-Presse. (AFP) reported.
Witnesses
told Al-Jazeera correspondent that American forces had opened fire at
the gas station, sparking off the huge blast.
A
thin column of smoke and orange flames were still seen several hours
after the incident and rescue workers feared more people could be
trapped in the blaze.
Several
fire engines were fighting the fire as
U.S.
troops prevented Iraqis from nearing the place.
Earlier
in the day, seven
U.S.
soldiers were
wounded in a grenade attack at their base in the Iraqi city of
Falluja
, where American forces shot dead 18 people during anti-occupation
protests this week
The
attack came on the same day U.S. President George W. Bush was to
declare "the major combat operations" in
Iraq
over.
U.S.
Officials Meet Iraqi leaders
Meanwhile,
U.S.
officials pledged Thursday to assist in rebuilding postwar
Iraq
at a meeting with Iraqi political leaders trying to thrash out how to
set up an interim government.
"We
will stay with the Iraqis until they can consolidate a new order...
that will put
Iraq
firmly on the path towards democracy, stability and prosperity,"
said Zalmay Khalilzad, the
U.S.
envoy overseeing
Iraq
's political development.
He
and
U.S.
deputy assistant secretary of state Ryan Crocker met with leaders of
five former opposition groups on how to form an interim authority
within one month to fill the political void after the fall of Saddam
Hussein on April 9.
"We...
agreed that the process for selecting this government has to be as
representative as possible and that the government ought to be
characterised by structures that reflect separation of power,"
said Khalilzad.
"I
told them that the
United States
is anxious for the formation of this government, we have absolutely no
interest in ruling
Iraq
. We regard
Iraq
's success as our success," he added.
The
meeting was attended by Massoud Barzani, head of the Kurdistan
Democratic Party (KDP), his opposite number from the Patriotic Union
of Kurdistan (PUK), Jalal Talabani, along with Ahmad Chalabi, leader
of the Iraqi National Congress (INC) who has backing from sections of
the
U.S.
government.
Also
on hand were Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, deputy head of the Supreme Assembly
of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI), and Iyad Allawi, leader of
the Iraqi National Accord Movement, a secular group.
The
five held an initial meeting in
Baghdad
on Wednesday, April 30.
"We
discussed the steps needed to fill the political, administrative and
security vacuum," Barzani told AFP.
"The
meetings will continue until we reach results," he added, without
saying when the next encounter was due.
"The
interim government will take its legitimacy from the upcoming
congress. The government has to reflect the composition of the Iraqi
people," he said.
A
U.S.-led conference on Monday, April 28, brought
together around 250 delegates who agreed on a one-month timetable
to form an interim government although it was not clear when the
United States
would hand over power to it.
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