Iraq Notebook
Rioting worsens around Baghdad

KHAMPHA BOUAPHANH / KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS Iraqi youths throw beer cans toward the scene where a car bomb detonated during rush hour as a convoy of three SUVs passed near Tahrir Square in central Baghdad, Iraq, yesterday. Thirteen people were killed in the attack.

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The outburst came after a suicide car bomber crashed into a convoy of three sport-utility vehicles carrying Westerners, killing three foreign contract power workers, two of their guards and eight Iraqis.

After looting a store that carried a brand of Jordanian beer, much of the crowd grabbed cans of Philadelphia Beer and hurled them into the fires leaping from the SUVs, cheering when the cans popped like gunfire. A group of men danced around a dead man pulled from one of the vehicles. People grabbed some of the beer and poured it over the body. A man waved what looked like a British passport in the air, laughing and pumping his fist.

When American soldiers from the 1st Calvary Division arrived in a handful of Humvees, they were quickly surrounded by Iraqis chanting, "Down! Down! USA" and "Down! Down! With the new government!" A crowd on one flank threw rock after rock, surging forward until the soldiers advanced, M-16 rifles raised.

A group of soldiers tackled one man, dragging him away from the crowd. Two other soldiers made obscene gestures. After about two hours, the soldiers drove off, leaving behind a group of Iraqi policemen, who soon left the area.

By noon, the area had been secured by swarms of Humvees, tanks and a long row of American soldiers wearing riot gear.

Red Cross says Saddam can stand trial

GENEVA — The International Committee of the Red Cross, which had said over the weekend that all prisoners held by the United States in Iraq should be released when sovereignty is handed to Iraqis June 30, clarified yesterday that Saddam Hussein can be held for trial.

"Nobody in the ICRC is calling for the release of Saddam Hussein. Absolutely not," said Antonella Notari, chief spokeswoman of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

The deposed Iraqi leader has been held in U.S. custody in an undisclosed location in Iraq since his capture in December.

Iraq's interim prime minister, Iyad Allawi, said yesterday he received official confirmation that all detainees, including Saddam, would be "handed over to the Iraqi government" within two weeks.
 

Also ...

Detained: U.S. troops arrested a senior aide to rebel Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr in an overnight raid in the holy city of Kerbala, officials in al-Sadr's office said today. They said Ahmed Rida al-Hassani was taken to a U.S. base. Closure of an al-Sadr newspaper March 28 led to a militia uprising; a cease-fire was achieved in Kerbala and Najaf only this month.

Soldier ID'd: The Oregon National Guard soldier killed Sunday by a roadside bomb in Iraq was identified yesterday as Spc. Eric McKinley, 24, of Corvallis.

Oil sales: Iraqi crude-oil sales have exceeded $10.6 billion since last year's U.S.-led invasion, the U.S.-led coalition said yesterday.

Hearings: A U.S. Army court will hold pretrial hearings next week in Iraq for three soldiers charged with abusing Abu Ghraib prison inmates. The three are Spc. Charles A. Graner Jr., 35; Staff Sgt. Ivan L. "Chip" Frederick II, 37; and Sgt. Javal S. Davis, 26.

Prisoners freed: The U.S. military freed 585 Iraqis yesterday from Abu Ghraib prison. Since March, the prison's population has dropped by about 3,250, although some were transferred.

Courts-martial: Four soldiers from Britain's Royal Fusiliers will face courts-martial for abuse of Iraqi detainees. The charges include assault, indecent assault that apparently involves making victims engage in sexual activity between themselves, and a military charge of violating good order and military discipline.

Charity trip: Twenty Iraqi children who lost their parents in fighting will travel to Poland for a vacation sponsored by the Polish military and a charity.