Iraq Notebook
17 soldiers suspended over abuse

	MANDI WRIGHT / KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS Injured police Sgt. Amjad Riddah describes what he saw when a suicide bomber blew up a car yesterday outside of his station in Kirkuk, Iraq. At least seven policemen were killed, and dozens were wounded.
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BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. military officials investigating allegations of mistreatment of Iraqi detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad have suspended 17 soldiers, including a battalion commander and a company commander, the Army said yesterday.

Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, commander of ground forces in Iraq, last month ordered an investigation into reports that prisoners had been abused at the prison, a notorious jail during Saddam Hussein's rule that is now run by U.S. forces. The Army gave no details of the alleged abuse then or yesterday.

On Jan. 5, the Army said three soldiers had been discharged for abusing Iraqi prisoners of war. They were found guilty of beating, kicking and harassing prisoners at Camp Bucca in southern Iraq. The soldiers said they acted in self-defense.

Police: Suicide attack that killed 7 was carefully plotted

KIRKUK, Iraq — The suicide bomber who killed at least seven policemen and wounded more than 50 other people yesterday in this northern city appeared to have carefully planned the attack, Iraqi police said.

The bomber detonated his 1990 Oldsmobile as police were changing shifts at Rahimawa station. Police Col. Thamer Abdul-Masih said the bomber's car followed policemen driving to the station in a Kurdish neighborhood and "ran into the last car in the convoy and exploded."

"Whoever did this had been watching and knew the procedure of the policemen's shifts," he said.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack. In addition to attacks aimed at the United States and the police supporting it, Kirkuk has seen rising ethnic tensions as Kurds, Arabs and Turkomen compete for control of the city, located in one of the world's richest oil-producing regions.

Officials delay delineating future role of U.S. troops
 
BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. and Iraqi officials will delay finalizing an agreement on the post-occupation role of American troops until after power has been formally handed to Iraqis on June 30, members of the Iraqi Governing Council said yesterday.

The legal basis for U.S. troops operating in any foreign country normally is spelled out in what is called a status-of-forces agreement, which defines legal protections for U.S. troops. Without it, U.S. troops in Iraq would be subject to local Iraqi law, once Iraq's sovereignty is restored.

The agreement was to have been concluded by the end of March, but the troop plan has become the latest in a series of deals to be disrupted in the dispute over how to choose the next Iraqi government.

The lack of agreement will not affect the presence of U.S. forces, but it could leave their relationship with Iraqi security forces undefined along with rules of engagement. There also could be a question of who would prosecute U.S. soldiers charged with crimes while serving in the country.

Rumsfeld criticizes Syria, Iran for allowing fighters into Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, making a quick stop in Iraq yesterday, said American officers told him the chief threat in the nation is evolving from guerrillas loyal to Saddam Hussein to suicide bombers and other terrorists. He said some are homegrown, and others are arriving from outside Iraq.

Rumsfeld said Iraq's neighbors, Syria and Iran, should be pressured to interdict fighters trying to cross into Iraq.

"Syria and Iran have not been helpful to the people of Iraq. Indeed, they've been unhelpful," Rumsfeld said. "They've allowed people to move from their countries to Iraq to engage in terrorist activities against the Iraqi people."

Asked whether those countries' governments were condoning the infiltrators or simply not preventing them, Rumsfeld responded with a litany of criticisms of both countries.

"Let there be no doubt, the powers that be in Syria and Iran are not wishing the free Iraqi people well," he said.

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