Developments in Iraq, March 1
March 1 (Reuters) - The following are security incidents and political developments in Iraq as of 1935 GMT on Wednesday.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have been battling a Sunni Arab insurgency against the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government in Baghdad since U.S. troops toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
A wave of sectarian killing since a bombing of a Shi'ite shrine on Feb. 22 has killed more than 450 people, by conservative estimates.
** Asterisks denote new or updated items.
SECURITY INCIDENTS
**Four policemen were killed and eight wounded when a convoy they were travelling in was attacked by gunmen, according to police. Some 22 officers were seized by the gunmen but later released, police said. Another 16 officers fled at the time of the incident and made their own way to safety, police said.
BAGHDAD - Two people were killed and 10 wounded when a bomb in a car exploded near a bus station in central Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - Twenty five people were killed and 58 wounded, most of them civilians, when a car bomb went off near a police checkpoint in a mainly Shi'ite district of eastern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.
BAGHDAD - Gunmen shot dead two people and wounded five while they were attending a Shi'ite funeral in western Baghdad, a hospital source said.
GARMA - U.S. forces arrested 75 residents on Tuesday in Garma, near Falluja, 50 km (35 miles) west of Baghdad, Iraqi police said. No immediate comment by the U.S. military.
BAIJI - Gunmen kidnapped a goldsmith in Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad, local authorities said.
BAGHDAD - A parked car exploded close to a Sunni mosque in northeast Baghdad but there were no casualties, police said.
MAHMUDIYA - Mortar rounds targeting a U.S. base in Mahmudiya 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad hit a nearby house killing three Sunni civilians and wounding two from the same family, police said.
BAGHDAD - Eight civilians were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near an oil tanker in the southern district of al-Dura, police said. In a separate incident nine bodies were found in the western side of Baghdad riddled with bullets, police said.
**KIRKUK - Three policemen were killed and five wounded when their patrol was ambushed by gunmen in Riyad 60 km (40 miles) southwest of the northern oil city of Kirkuk, police colonel Sarhat Khadir said.
RAMADI - Three people were killed and seven wounded when U.S. helicopters bombed houses surrounding the provincial building in Ramadi 110 km (68 miles) west of Baghdad after they had been attacked by gunmen, according to doctor Sabah Duleimi from Ramadi hospital.
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
NAJAF - Iraqiya state television said Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the leading Shi'ite cleric, met fiery young Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Al-Sadr denies sending his Mehdi Army militia against Sunni targets.
BAGHDAD - Saddam Hussein appeared in court.
ANKARA - Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said he would press on with forming a broad, national unity government.
U.S. and Iraqi forces have been battling a Sunni Arab insurgency against the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government in Baghdad since U.S. troops toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.
A wave of sectarian killing since a bombing of a Shi'ite shrine on Feb. 22 has killed more than 450 people, by conservative estimates.
** Asterisks denote new or updated items.
SECURITY INCIDENTS
**Four policemen were killed and eight wounded when a convoy they were travelling in was attacked by gunmen, according to police. Some 22 officers were seized by the gunmen but later released, police said. Another 16 officers fled at the time of the incident and made their own way to safety, police said.
BAGHDAD - Two people were killed and 10 wounded when a bomb in a car exploded near a bus station in central Baghdad, police said.
BAGHDAD - Twenty five people were killed and 58 wounded, most of them civilians, when a car bomb went off near a police checkpoint in a mainly Shi'ite district of eastern Baghdad, an Interior Ministry source said.
BAGHDAD - Gunmen shot dead two people and wounded five while they were attending a Shi'ite funeral in western Baghdad, a hospital source said.
GARMA - U.S. forces arrested 75 residents on Tuesday in Garma, near Falluja, 50 km (35 miles) west of Baghdad, Iraqi police said. No immediate comment by the U.S. military.
BAIJI - Gunmen kidnapped a goldsmith in Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad, local authorities said.
BAGHDAD - A parked car exploded close to a Sunni mosque in northeast Baghdad but there were no casualties, police said.
MAHMUDIYA - Mortar rounds targeting a U.S. base in Mahmudiya 30 km (20 miles) south of Baghdad hit a nearby house killing three Sunni civilians and wounding two from the same family, police said.
BAGHDAD - Eight civilians were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded near an oil tanker in the southern district of al-Dura, police said. In a separate incident nine bodies were found in the western side of Baghdad riddled with bullets, police said.
**KIRKUK - Three policemen were killed and five wounded when their patrol was ambushed by gunmen in Riyad 60 km (40 miles) southwest of the northern oil city of Kirkuk, police colonel Sarhat Khadir said.
RAMADI - Three people were killed and seven wounded when U.S. helicopters bombed houses surrounding the provincial building in Ramadi 110 km (68 miles) west of Baghdad after they had been attacked by gunmen, according to doctor Sabah Duleimi from Ramadi hospital.
POLITICAL DEVELOPMENTS
NAJAF - Iraqiya state television said Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the leading Shi'ite cleric, met fiery young Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Al-Sadr denies sending his Mehdi Army militia against Sunni targets.
BAGHDAD - Saddam Hussein appeared in court.
ANKARA - Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said he would press on with forming a broad, national unity government.
posted by Marko at 3/01/2006 02:35:00 PM
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