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U.S.
Soldier Killed, Four Wounded Near Tikrit
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U.S.
soldiers search Iraqis in Tikrit
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BAGHDAD,
June 7 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - With Iraqi resistance
of the U.S.-led occupation gaining more momentum, one U.S. soldier was
killed and four others wounded in an attack Saturday, June 7, near
Tikrit, the hometown of ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein, the
U.S. Central Command said.
"One
U.S. soldier was killed and four were wounded this morning near Tikrit
by rocket-propelled grenade and small arms fire," said a
statement issued by the Centcom.
The
injured soldiers were evacuated by helicopter and ambulance to
military medical facilities in the area, the statement added, without
giving more details about the attack in an area some 180 kilometers
(110 miles) north of Baghdad.
Separately,
Centcom said one soldier was killed and two injured in a vehicle
accident about 35 kilometers (20 miles) north of Baghdad on Friday,
June 6.
"They
were providing security escort to Coalition Provisional Authority
personnel at the time of the accident," it said.
"The
wounded soldiers were evacuated to the 28th Combat-Support Hospital
for treatment," the statement added.
A
total of 28 U.S. service personnel have died in fighting or accidents
in Iraq since May 1, when U.S. President George W. Bush declared the
war was effectively over, according to a toll by France Agence-Presse
(AFP).
On
Thursday, June 5, a U.S. soldier was killed and five others wounded in
the Iraqi city of Falluja
in a rocket-propelled grenade attack.
It
was the second deadly attack on U.S. soldiers in Falluja in just nine
days. On May 27, two soldiers were killed and nine wounded in another
assault.
The
U.S. occupation forces became cautious
about escalating Iraqi resistance activity, as clearly demonstrated in
the increase of patrols in Baghdad and other precautionary measures
all over the country.
Iraqi
Killed
An
Iraqi was shot and killed when he allegedly tried to escape from a
Danish road block in the north of Basra province, the Danish defense
command announced Saturday.
Danish
soldiers patrolling an area near the town of Al Qurnah on Friday
intercepted two cars with three “armed” Iraqis.
Two
of the men surrendered quickly, and the third tried to flee with the
firearms, the defense headquarters said.
After
failing to heed several warning shots, the man was shot and later died
at a nearby medical facility, it claimed.
The
two other Iraqis are currently in the custody of Danish forces.
Denmark
currently has 367 soldiers deployed under British command in the
so-called Iraq stabilization force, according to Danish defense
command.
Health
Minister Detained
U.S.
occupation forces in Iraq have been detaining the country's health
minister since early May, his son told AFP Saturday.
Omid
Mubarak, who served as Iraq’s health minister since the Gulf War in
1991, was called in for questioning by U.S. forces on May 2 and has
been in custody ever since, confirmed his son Nardin Mubarak from
Paris, where he is attending dental school.
"The
family, including me, has heard from him," the son said, adding
that officials from the International Committee for the Red Cross
(ICRC) have visited the 64-year-old.
"But
we don't understand" why he is still in custody and "we wish
that he would be free to return to his home," said the son.
Throughout
the three weeks that U.S.-led troops waged war on Iraq, Mubarak, a
cardiologist, went from hospital to hospital in Baghdad, treating the
injured, his son said.
He
was forced to stop on April 9, when Baghdad fell to U.S. troops and
Saddam's regime crumbled.
Amid
the lawlessness and looting that then engulfed the Iraqi capital,
Anglo-American forces asked Mubarak to continue working at the
battered health ministry and he accepted, his son said.
When
U.S. forces first called Mubarak in for questioning on May 2, his
family expected the interrogation to last "two days or, at worst,
two weeks. But at the end of five weeks, he is still in custody,"
his son said.
He
does not feature on the U.S. list of 55 most-wanted Iraqi officials.
The
decision for Mubarak to continue working in the country's health
sector was taken with the retired general Jay Garner as the top U.S.
administrator in the country.
The
U.S. general was replaced in May by Paul Bremer, who has taken a tough
stance in regard to members of Saddam's regime and has banned
high- and mid-ranking Baath members from all government jobs.
Perhaps
the order to release Mubarak from custody has not come because of
Bremer's policy, his son said.
Iraq's
health system, which aid agencies say is in a critical state, has
become a focus of criticism of U.S. reconstruction efforts in the
country.
ICRC
Visits Prisoners
The
ICRC said Saturday it has paid prison visits to nearly 1,000 people
detained in the Baghdad region by the U.S.-led occupation, including
senior figures of the ousted regime.
The
visits to former officials as well as common law prisoners have taken
place since May 24, said ICRC spokesperson in Baghdad Nada Dourani.
The
ICRC had also begun to pass on messages from the prisoners to their
families, Dourani added.
An
American official told reporters the occupation forces had detained
1,000 people in military prisons and were committed to granting access
to the ICRC.
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