Iraq violence kills at least 41 people

ELENA BECATOROS,
Associated Press Writer

Bombers and gunmen killed at least 41 people and wounded dozens across Iraq on Monday, while parliament leaders again put off debate on legislation that some Iraqis fear could threaten the country's unity and bring even more violence.

On Tuesday, the U.S. military command said that two U.S. soldiers have been killed in Iraq, one by a roadside bomb and the other after being shot.

Both soldiers died on Sunday afternoon. One was killed by small arms fire in north-central Baghdad, while the other died after his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in the northeastern part of the capital, the military command said in a statement.

The identities of the two soldiers were not released while military authorities contact their families.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military relinquished control of a second Iraqi army division as Iraqi officials prepared to further tighten security ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, when insurgent attacks tend to spike.

In a positive development for Iraq's leaders, predominantly Sunni Arab tribes in a volatile western province have joined to fight insurgents in the region and want the government and the U.S.-led coalition to supply them with weapons, a tribal leader said.

Tribal leaders and clerics in Ramadi, capital of violent Anbar province, met last week and set up a force of about 20,000 men "ready to purge the city of these infidels," Sheik Fassal al-Guood, a tribal leader from Ramadi, told The Associated Press.

"People are fed up with the acts of those criminals who take Islam as a cover for their crimes," he said. "The situation in the province is unbearable, the city is abandoned, most of the families have fled the city and all services are poor."

An indication of the situation came Monday when two suicide car bombers attacked a police station in Ramadi, killing at least two police officers and wounding 26 people, the Interior Ministry and U.S. military said. Al-Arabiya and al-Jazeera television put the death toll much higher, saying 13 people were killed.

A suicide bomber also struck in Tal Afar, a city 260 miles northwest of Baghdad that has seen much insurgent activity in the past, killing at least 20 people and wounding 17. Bombings and shootings in and around Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of the capital, killed 12 people.

At least six more people died in other incidents around Iraq, and authorities found at least five bodies, including two women, that probably were victims of the sectarian reprisal killings being waged between Shiite and Sunni Arabs.

In Baghdad, political leaders from Shiite, Kurdish and Sunni Arab groups met to discuss the federalism bill submitted to parliament this month by the largest Shiite bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance. They canceled a formal parliament debate scheduled for Tuesday.

The head of the largest Sunni Arab alliance, Adnan al-Dulaimi, said the faction leaders would meet again to discuss the issue Tuesday, but said the bill would not be debated until a later — as yet unspecified — date.

The legislation calls for setting up a system to allow creation of autonomous regions in the predominantly Shiite south much like the self-ruling Kurdish region in northern Iraq. Sunni Arabs fear that would split Iraq apart and fuel sectarian bloodshed.

The Kurdish north and Shiite south hold Iraq's oil fields, while the predominantly Sunni Arab areas don't have any.

Sunni Arabs say that before autonomy legislation can be passed, parliament must name a committee to amend the constitution — a key demand they made when they agreed to join Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government. One of the amendments they seek would weaken the ability to set up self-ruling cantons.

Al-Dulaimi, as well as Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers, said the Kurds had proposed setting up the committee simultaneously with submitting the draft bill for debate sometime in the future.

Monday's violence came as the government prepared to announce new security measures for Baghdad ahead of Ramadan, which is expected to start Sept. 24.

Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari told the AP the measures would be adopted two or three days before the holy month begins to "protect citizens from terrorists attacks."

The Iraqi army's 4th Division also came under Iraqi control in central Salahuddin province Monday, the government said.

It was the second of Iraq's 10 divisions to be put under direct Iraqi control since Sept. 7, when coalition forces handed over control of Iraq's armed forces command to the government.

____

Associated Press writers Sinan Salaheddin and Patrick Quinn in Baghdad and Qassim Abdul-Zahra in Amman, Jordan, contributed to this report.

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Today in history - Sept. 19

The Associated Press

Today is Tuesday, Sept. 19, the 262nd day of 2006. There are 103 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Sept. 19, 1777, during the Revolutionary War, American soldiers won the first Battle of Saratoga.

On this date:

In 1783, Jacques Etienne Montgolfier launched a duck, a sheep and a rooster aboard a hot-air balloon at Versailles in France.

In 1796, President Washington's farewell address was published. In it, the nation's first chief executive wrote, "Observe good faith and justice towards all Nations; cultivate peace and harmony with all."

In 1881, the 20th president of the United States, James A. Garfield, died 2 1/2 months after being shot by Charles Guiteau; Chester Alan Arthur became president.

In 1906, addressing the annual dinner of The Associated Press in New York, Mark Twain said, "There are only two forces that can carry light to all the corners of the globe — only two — the sun in the heavens and The Associated Press down here."

In 1934, Bruno Hauptmann was arrested in New York and charged with the kidnap-murder of Charles A. Lindbergh Jr.

In 1945, Nazi propagandist William Joyce, known as "Lord Haw-Haw," was sentenced to death by a British court.

In 1955, President Juan Peron of Argentina was ousted after a revolt by the army and navy.

In 1959, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev reacted angrily during a visit to Los Angeles upon being told that, for security reasons, he wouldn't be allowed to visit Disneyland.

In 1960, Cuban leader Fidel Castro, in New York to visit the United Nations, angrily checked out of the Shelburne Hotel in a dispute with the management.

In 1986, federal health officials announced that the experimental drug AZT would be made available to thousands of AIDS patients.

Ten years ago: American astronaut Shannon Lucid, on board the Russian Mir space station since March, eagerly greeted the crew of Atlantis hours after their arrival and docking. IBM announced it would extend health benefits to the partners of its homosexual employees.

Five years ago: The Pentagon ordered dozens of advanced aircraft to the Persian Gulf region as the hour of military retaliation for deadly terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 drew closer. The parent companies of American Airlines and United Airlines both announced plans to lay off 20,000 employees.

One year ago: North Korea pledged to drop its nuclear weapons development and rejoin international arms treaties, but its leaders quickly backpedaled. In a statement aired on a pan-Arab TV station, Al-Qaida deputy Ayman al-Zawahri said his terror network had carried out the July 7 London bombings that killed 52 people. Former Tyco CEO L. Dennis Kozlowski was sentenced in New York to up to 25 years in prison for looting the company of hundreds of millions of dollars; Tyco's former finance chief, Mark Swartz, received the same sentence.

Today's Birthdays: Author Roger Angell is 86. Rhythm-and-blues musician Billy Ward is 85. Former Defense Secretary Harold Brown is 79. Actress Rosemary Harris is 76. Actor Adam West is 76. Actor David McCallum is 73. Singer-songwriter Paul Williams is 66. Singer Bill Medley is 66. Singer Sylvia Tyson (Ian and Sylvia) is 66. Golfer Jane Blalock is 61. Singer David Bromberg is 61. Actor Randolph Mantooth is 61. Singer Freda Payne is 61. Rock singer-musician Lol Creme (10cc) is 59. Actor Jeremy Irons is 58. Actress Twiggy Lawson is 57. TV personality Joan Lunden is 56. Singer-producer Daniel Lanois is 55. Actor Scott Colomby is 54. Musician-producer Nile Rodgers is 54. Singer-actor Rex Smith is 51. Actor Kevin Hooks is 48. Actress Carolyn McCormick is 47. Country singer Jeff Bates is 43. Country singer Trisha Yearwood is 42. Actress-comedian Cheri Oteri is 41. News anchor Soledad O'Brien is 40. Rhythm-and-blues singer Espraronza Griffin is 37. Actress Sanaa Lathan is 35. Rock singer A. Jay Popoff (Lit) is 33. Comedian Jimmy Fallon is 32. TV personality Carter Oosterhouse is 30. Rock musician Ryan Dusick (Maroon 5) is 29. Rapper Eamon is 23. Actor Kevin Zegers is 22. Actress Danielle Panabaker is 19.

Thought for Today: "He who is unable to live in society, or who has no need because he is sufficient for himself, must be either a beast or a god; he is no part of a state." — Aristotle, Greek philosopher (384 B.C.-322 B.C.).

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