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U.S.
Soldier Killed, 34 Injured In Iraq Mortar Attack
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A mortar attack on a U.S. logistics base killed 1 U.S. soldier and wounded 34 others
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BAGHDAD,
January 8 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Iraqi resistance fired
mortars at a U.S. occupation military base west of Baghdad, killing one
soldier and wounding 34, while the U.S.-led occupation forces readied to
release 100 Iraqi prisoners following behind the scenes pressure from
British officials in Baghdad.
Six
mortars struck Logistical Base Seitz northwest of Baghdad at 6:45 pm
(1545 GMT) Wednesday, January 7, hitting soldiers' barracks, U.S.
officials said according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
"One
soldier was killed and 34 wounded," a military spokesman said
Thursday, January 7.
The
toll had earlier been put at 35 wounded, with some of the soldiers
listed as seriously injured.
The
seriously wounded soldiers were evacuated for treatment.
The
latest death raised to 216 the number of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq
since U.S. President George W. Bush declared major hostilities over on
May 1.
One
soldier was killed and two wounded in a mortar strike on January 3 south
of Balad, 75 kilometers (47 miles) north of Baghdad.
Attacks
on U.S. occupation troops even after the arrest of former Iraqi dictator
Saddam Hussein on December 13. The U.S. officials have been accusing
Saddam sympathizers to be behind such attacks.
Prisoners
“Held Without Charge” Released
This
comes as U.S. overseer Paul Bremer, with current interim Governing
Council chairman Adnan Pachachi at his side, announced the imminent
release of 100 prisoners held without charge, with hundreds more to
follow.
The
British daily, the Guardian, said that the move follows pressure behind
the scenes from British officials in Baghdad who have been alarmed at
the large numbers of Iraqis scooped up by the American military during
routine operations.
In
a move apparently designed to deflect growing criticism of America's
human rights record in Iraq, Bremer said today's release of prisoners
was in the interests of "reconciliation", the Guardian added.
"It
is time for Iraqis to make common cause in building the new Iraq,"
he said.
Officials
at the U.S. occupation Provisional Authority (CPA) in Baghdad have
recently reviewed the issue of detainees after numerous complaints from
Iraqis that their relatives have simply disappeared, the Guardian said.
"There
needs to be a process which is conciliatory to the degree that those who
are not involved in gross crimes are released back to their communities
as soon as possible, in the spirit of broader reconciliation," one
British official said.
"All
they do is put a bag on their heads, bind their hands behind them with
plastic handcuffs and take them away. Families don't know where they
go," Malek Dohan al-Hassan, the head of the Baghdad lawyers'
syndicate complained last month. "They violate human rights up to
their ears."
According
to the guardian, the 506 detainees to be freed represent about 4% of the
12,800 prisoners in U.S. custody in Iraq, a figure that includes 4,000
members of an anti-Iranian militia. None of the detainees has been
charged. Some have been in jail for nine months. The U.S. military has
refused to allow them to see a lawyer. There have also been consistent
complaints from former detainees that U.S. soldiers have beaten them up
or forced them to stand for hours with their hands in the air.
Reward
Program
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Bremer announced the imminent release of 100 prisoners held without charge
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Bremer
also unveiled a 200,000-dollar reward program for the capture of more
"wanted individuals".
The
prison release program is aimed at bringing a new bounty of intelligence
from those Iraqis being freed under the new policy, a U.S. occupation
spokesman said.
"We're
hoping these people will take this opportunity to help the new Iraq by
giving information on those who are going out killing and hurting
people," the spokesman told AFP.
Those
released will be set free on the understanding they "must renounce
violence" and have a community sponsor, possibly a religious or
tribal leader, to watch them, Bremer said.
According
to U.S. occupation troops figures, 9,300 "security detainees"
are being held in the U.S.-run prisons. That does not include 3,800
detained members of the Iranian armed opposition People's Mujahedeen,
which enjoyed Saddam's patronage.
U.S.
occuaption officials have repeatedly warned of more "big bang"
attacks.
Meanwhile,
assailants raked a checkpoint with bullets Wednesday, killing a
policeman and a civilian near the northern city of Kirkuk.
Kirkuk
Police chief General Turhan Yussef said armed men opened fire on a
Northern Oil Co. (NOC) patrol, killing one of the guards and wounding
three others, just outside the oil center.
A
firefight between U.S. forces and guerrillas in the restive town of
Fallujah left an Iraqi couple dead late Tuesday, January 6, Iraqi police
and witnesses said, although the U.S. military was unable to confirm the
accounts.
Elsewhere,
attackers blew up a pipeline 135 kilometers (85 miles) west of Kirkuk
near the Syrian border, a senior Iraqi oil official told AFP
Wednesday.
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