- IRAQ (AP) -- In a crackdown
on insurgents, US troops destroyed an empty dye factory in Baghdad and
chased attackers seen firing mortars, officials said today, while the death
toll from a suicide bombing at an Italian paramilitary base rose to 31.
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- The bombing was the deadliest attack against the coalition
since the occupation in Iraq began. Italian Defense Minister Antonio Martino
blamed the attack on Saddam Hussein loyalists and al-Qaeda terrorists.
The death toll is expected to rise because one of the injured Italians
is brain dead.
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- The bombing in this relatively quiet Shiite Muslim city
289 kilometres southeast of Baghdad prompted Portugal to send 128 elite
police officers originally slated for Nasiriyah to Basra instead. A Japanese
government spokesman indicated Tokyo will likely postpone sending troops
until sometime next year.
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- Nevertheless, British Maj. Gen. Graeme Lamb, commander
of the multinational division in the southeast, insisted the coalition
"won't be deterred" by the attack. President Bush declared Thursday:
"We're going to prevail."
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- Martino told Italian state television after arriving
in Nasiriyah that Italy has "fairly reliable intelligence" that
the Fedayeen Saddam, the ousted leader's former paramilitary force, was
responsible, along with "regrouped al-Qaeda terrorists."
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- Hours after the bombing, US forces destroyed a dye factory
in southern Baghdad, setting off explosions that reverberated through the
capital. A Pentagon spokesman said the facility was a "known meeting,
planning, storage and rendezvous point for belligerent elements" attacking
coalition forces.
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- The US missions were part of "Operation Iron Hammer,"
a new "get-tough" policy for confronting insurgents.
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- Factory workers said the Americans visited them earlier
yesterday and warned them the plant would be destroyed. One worker, Yahyeh
Najim, said the factory was occupied by Saddam's Republican Guard during
the war.
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- A resident, Jasim Naseef, said insurgents had fired 18
mortar shells from an area near the factory on Tuesday.
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- Also yesterday, troops in Baghdad spotted attackers firing
mortars before fleeing, the US military said. The attackers fled in a van,
but made several stops. An Apache helicopter gunship opened fire on the
van, killing two people inside, the statement said. Three occupants were
wounded and five were captured.
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- Troops searching sites where the van stopped found an
82mm mortar launch tube, the statement said.
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- Today, Brig. Gen. Mark Hertling said several insurgents
also were killed when Bradley fighting vehicles and paratroopers from the
82nd Airborne Division attacked a mortar crew,
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- The latest violence took place as chief administrator
L. Paul Bremer was in Washington for two days of White House talks on ways
to speed up establishing an Iraqi government to take charge in Baghdad.
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- Bush said Bremer told him the Iraqis want to be more
involved in governing their country, and "that's a positive development.
That's what we want. We want the Iraqis to be more involved in the governance
of their country."
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- Investigators in Nasiriyah sifted through the bomb-shattered
ruins of the three-story building that was used as a barracks by the Italian
Carabinieri paramilitary police.
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- Of the dead, 18 were Italians, according to Italian officials,
who also said one of those still alive has been declared brain dead. It
was the worst combat loss for Italy since World War II and its first in
the Iraq campaign. The blast wounded about 80 people, 20 of them Italians,
hospital sources and Italian officials said.
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- Yesterday's death toll surpassed the 16 killed when insurgents
shot down a US Army Chinook helicopter near Fallujah on Nov. 2 - the single
deadliest attack againstthe coalition since the war began March 20.
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- Dr. Ali Farhan, head of the city hospital's forensics
department, said later the bodies of 13 people who were not Italians were
recovered.
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- There were conflicting accounts about how many bombers
were involved and it was unclear whether they were included in the death
toll.
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- Martino said a truck, followed by an armored car, approached
the compound at high speed. Gunmen inside one of the vehicles opened fire
at Italian troops guarding the entrance, he said. The guards returned fire,
but the vehicle plowed through the gate, and then exploded, he added.
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- Witnesses, however, said another car ran the checkpoint,
distracting the guards who opened fire. The truck with the bomb then raced
into the area from the opposite direction, crashed into the gate and exploded.
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- Mohamed Alwan, 28, hospitalised with a broken leg and
shrapnel wounds, said he had been standing outside the base, waiting to
inquire about joining an Iraqi defense force, when he saw a truck crossing
the bridge with two men inside.
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- "I noticed it because it was speeding up as it headed
for the gate of the compound," he said. "There were two men inside,
the one next to the driver was bearded and he pulled out a gun and started
shooting from the window."
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- Italy has sent about 2300 troops to Iraq. About 340 Carabinieri
are based in Nasiriyah, along with 110 Romanians.
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- It was the 13th vehicle bombing in Iraq since Aug. 7,
when a car exploded at the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad, killing at least
19 people. Bremer's talks in Washington focused on accelerating efforts
for Iraqis to take charge of security, write a constitution, hold elections
and assume control over government institutions.
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- US officials said the administration does not intend
to abandon the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council but was exploring new
scenarios. One option called for creating a smaller body within the 25-seat
council - perhaps 10 people with expanded roles - or establishing one person
as a strong leader, a senior administration official said yesterday.
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- Another administration official said an interim Iraqi
leader could have authority to govern until a constitution was written
and elections held.
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- The Bush administration has said for months that Iraq
must have a constitution in place and hold elections before Washington
would give up sovereignty. Disagreements on how to select delegates to
a constitutional convention have blocked progress.
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- Copyright 2003 News Limited.
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- http://news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,7863782%255E1702,00.html
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