- BAGHDAD (Reuters) -- Guerrillas
fired rockets at the headquarters of the U.S.-led administration in central
Baghdad Tuesday and loudspeakers ordered personnel in the compound to take
cover as explosions echoed across the Iraqi capital.
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- "Attack. Take cover. This is not a test," warned
loudspeakers at the compound in one of Saddam Hussein's former palace complexes.
Sirens wailed, flares lit up the night sky and U.S. helicopters clattered
overhead.
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- A spokesman for the U.S. 1st Armored Division which patrols
Baghdad said at least two rockets had been fired. One crashed through the
roof of an empty apartment building near the coalition compound and another
landed near a bus station.
-
- "There are no reports of U.S. soldiers being injured,
or of civilian casualties" the spokesman said.
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- But he said two Iraqi police were wounded in a rocket-propelled
grenade attack near a Baghdad petrol station.
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- Guerrilla attacks in Iraq have become increasingly brazen.
Saturday, a DHL cargo plane made an emergency landing in Baghdad with an
engine on fire after being hit by a surface-to-air missile. A video tape
delivered to a French journalist apparently showed the missile being fired.
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- The footage showed several men with their faces concealed
by scarves, carrying grenade and missile launchers. One aimed a shoulder-fired
missile at a plane.
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- The attackers were shown escaping by car, and the tape
then showed a plane descending with smoke pouring from one wing.
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- ATTACKS ON U.S. TROOPS DOWN
-
- A top U.S. general said earlier Tuesday that tougher
U.S. tactics had halved the number of attacks on his forces in Iraq in
the past two weeks, but that assaults on Iraqis had surged.
-
- General John Abizaid told a news conference U.S. forces
had stepped up operations to counter a rise in insurgent activity.
-
- "These offensive actions in the past two weeks have
actually driven down attacks on coalition forces ... I would say the attacks
are down by about half," he said. "But unfortunately we have
found that attacks against Iraqis have increased."
-
- U.S. administrator Paul Bremer predicted more violence.
"We have to anticipate that there will continue to be a level of terrorism
in this country in the months ahead," he said.
-
- Bremer and the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council
unveiled a plan 10 days ago to restore Iraqi sovereignty in June, reversing
earlier U.S. insistence that a new constitution and elections should precede
any transfer of power.
-
- "The principal reason for this agreement was an
effort to reconcile different positions: an Iraqi desire to directly elect
delegates to a constitutional convention and the coalition's desire to
give Iraqis sovereignty at an early date," Bremer said, adding there
would be talks with the Governing Council about security arrangements after
sovereignty was returned.
-
- "It is our anticipation that the (transitional)
Iraqi government ... will want to have coalition forces here," he
said.
-
- In a letter to the U.N. Security Council Monday, Jalal
Talabani, president of the Iraqi council, said a provisional legislative
body would be chosen by May 31. This would elect a provisional sovereign
government by the end of June.
-
- Then "the Coalition Provisional Authority will be
dissolved and the occupation...will end," Talabani's letter said.
-
- A new Iraqi constitution would be drafted by March 15,
2005, and then presented to Iraqis in a referendum. A new government would
be elected by the end of 2005, the letter said. It asked for a new Security
Council resolution to endorse the timetable.
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- U.S. SAYS MORE TROOPS NOT NEEDED
-
- Guerrillas fighting the occupation have killed 183 U.S.
troops since Washington declared major combat over on May 1, according
to the latest Pentagon figures.
-
- Washington blames the attacks on insurgents loyal to
Saddam and foreign Muslim militants.
-
- The United States has about 130,000 troops in Iraq, but
some Congressmen say more are needed to curb the insurgency. Abizaid, however,
said there were enough troops on the ground.
-
- Asked whether U.S.-led forces were facing a coordinated
guerrilla campaign, Abizaid said there were a number of cells operating
countrywide, mainly in urban areas.
-
- "There is some indication of regional coordination
between the cells. We haven't really seen what I would call levels of national
coordination, although that remains unknown," he said.
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- http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=3890435
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