Iraq Notebook
Army checks into possible thefts, assaults

KHAMPHA BOUAPHANH / KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS A U.S. soldier looks over part of an engine left from a car-bomb explosion in downtown Baghdad yesterday that killed four Iraqis and wounded about 25.

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The New York Times said the Army was investigating at least two dozen cases, including the suspected theft of cash from Iraqis stopped by soldiers at roadside checkpoints, apparently under the pretext of confiscating money from suspected insurgents or their financial backers.

"Almost everyone has something to say about gold, money and other valuables going missing and they don't believe they'll ever get them back," said Adel Alami, an Iraqi lawyer.

Car bombing kills four in downtown Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A powerful car bomb killed four Iraqis and wounded about 25 in downtown Baghdad yesterday.

The bombing, in Baghdad's well-to-do Al Harthiya neighborhood, blasted a 10-foot-wide crater in the street and shattered the windows of nearby shops and homes.

Mowaffak Rubaie, the Iraqi Governing Council's national security adviser, told al-Arabiya television he thinks he was the intended target after receiving a threatening call.

But Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the U.S. military spokesman here, said that Rubaie was nowhere near the blast and that there was no reason to think he was the target.

U.S. soldiers, Iraqi militia clash again in Kufa

KUFA, Iraq — Clashes between patrolling U.S. soldiers and militiamen loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr, an anti-American Shiite cleric, erupted last night in the holy city of Kufa, where two U.S. soldiers were killed Sunday. Under the terms of Thursday's agreement, U.S. forces were supposed to begin joint patrols with Iraqi police in Najaf and surrounding areas in an effort to ease the impact of their presence. In return, al-Sadr's militiamen were supposed to leave the streets.

Since then,Al-Sadr's forces have largely disappeared from Najaf's streets but still challenge U.S. troops in nearby Kufa. The U.S.-Iraqi patrols have not started.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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