The New Nation - Internet Edition

US toll in Iraq hits 4,000 as four soldiers killed:54 killed in series of violence in Iraq

Reuters, Baghdad

The death toll of U.S. soldiers in Iraq reached 4,000 on Monday, days after the fifth anniversary of a war that President George W. Bush says the United States is on track to win.

The U.S. military said four soldiers were killed on Sunday when a roadside bomb, the biggest killer of American soldiers in Iraq, exploded near their vehicle in southern Baghdad.

One soldier was wounded in the attack, which brought the number of U.S. military deaths to 4,000 since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

The deaths came on a day when the U.S.-protected "Green Zone," the government and diplomatic compound in central Baghdad, was hit by repeated rocket and mortar fire, part of an upsurge in violence in the capital and elsewhere.

Sunday's violence, in which dozens were killed, underscored the fragility of Iraq's security. There has been an increase in attacks since January, although U.S. military commanders say overall levels of violence are down 60 percent since last June.

What impact the 4,000 milestone will have on a war-weary American public and the U.S. presidential campaign will be hard to assess in the short term, but war critics are likely to seize on it to boost their case for U.S. troops to be withdrawn.

"You regret every casualty, every loss," U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney said during a visit to Jerusalem. "It may have a psychological effect on the public, but it's a tragedy that we live in a kind of world where that happens."

The U.S. military dismisses such tolls as arbitrary markers.

"No casualty is more or less significant than another; each soldier, marine, airman and sailor is equally precious and their loss equally tragic," U.S. military spokesman Rear Admiral Greg Smith said on Monday.

Anthony Cordesman, a respected Iraq analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, said the 4,000th death could trigger another wave of polarized debate.

AFP adds: A wave of attacks across Iraq on Sunday killed 54 people, while insurgents bombarded Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone with mortar fire, sending US embassy staff scurrying into bunkers.

The deadliest attack was in the main northern city of Mosul where a suicide bomber crashed an explosives-laden truck into an Iraqi army base, triggering a blast that killed at least 12 soldiers and wounded dozens.

"The bomber smashed the truck through barriers at the entrance to the base and triggered the explosion" at around 7:00 am (0400 GMT), army officer Major Mohammed Ahmed told AFP.

The US military in a statement blamed the attack on Al-Qaeda and put the toll at 12 soldiers killed and 35 wounded.

Iraqi and US troops are engaged in a major offensive against Al-Qaeda in Mosul, which according to US commanders is the jihadists' last urban stronghold in Iraq.

Zawahri calls for strikes against US, Israel

AP, Cairo

Al-Qaida deputy leader Ayman al-Zawahri called on Muslims in a new audiotape released Monday to strike Jewish and American targets in revenge for Israel's recent offensive in the Gaza Strip.

The al-Zawahri tape came on the heels of a message from Osama bin Laden, who called for a holy war to liberate the Palestinian territories. Together, the two messages appeared to be a more direct push by the terror network's leadership to use widespread anger over the Gaza violence to whip up support.

Bin Laden and al-Zawahri have frequently referred to the Palestinian cause in their past messages, but usually in broader terms of liberating Jerusalem and denouncing Israeli violence. Their latest calls for attacks, however, had a more immediate and urgent tone.

The string of messages has raised concerns that al-Qaida could be planning new attacks in the West - or is seeking to inspire its sympathizers to carry out violence. In another message last week, bin Laden warned of a "severe" reaction against Europe after Danish papers published a cartoon seen as insulting Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

The authenticity of the 4 minute, 44-second audiotape could not be independently confirmed. But the voice on it resembled that of al-Zawahri on previous audio and videotapes confirmed to be his. It was posted on an Islamic militant Web site where al-Qaida usually releases its statements, and a banner advertising the tape had the logo of al-Qaida's media arm, Al-Sahab.

"Muslims, today is your day. Strike the interests of the Jews, the Americans, and all those who participated in the attack on Muslims," al-Zawahri said. "Monitor the targets, collect money, prepare the equipment, plan with precision, and then - while relying on God - assault, seeking martyrdom and paradise."

Israel launched a weeklong offensive in Gaza that ended in early March, seeking to put down Palestinian militants firing rockets against nearby Israeli towns. The Israeli assault killed more than 120 people, including many civilians. Three Israelis also were killed.

The outbreak of fighting has hampered a new round of peace talks launched at a conference hosted by the U.S. in November. The Bush administration has been pushing the two sides to sign a peace deal by the end of the year.

Al-Zawahri said attacks should not be limited to places in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

85 killed in fresh Lankan fighting

AFP, Colombo

At least 80 Tamil rebels and five government soldiers were killed in fresh fighting as Sri Lankan security forces tried to break into rebel-held territory, the defence ministry said Sunday.

Fierce battles raged in the north of the island as the military smashed through a bunker line of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) inflicting heavy casualties on the rebels, the ministry said. It raised the number of guerrillas killed in fighting since Saturday morning to 80 from the earlier figure of 22. The ministry added that the number of its troops killed had also risen to five.

But the guerrillas said they resisted the military push and inflicted heavy losses on government forces.

The pro-rebel Puthinam.com website said the Tigers had killed 55 troops and wounded another 120 in Saturday's fighting. The website did not give rebel casualties. Saturday's heavy fighting erupted hours after the Tigers sank a navy fast attack craft off the island's northeastern coast, leaving 10 sailors missing believed dead.

Sri Lankan war planes bombed suspected LTTE facilities Saturday inside the area they control in the north of the island, the defence ministry said, adding that there were no immediate reports of casualties.

The government claims it has killed 2,322 rebels since January against the loss of 136 of its own troops. Colombo allows no journalists or rights groups into the embattled regions, making it impossible to verify the figures.

Bhutan holds first parliamentary vote

AP, Thimphu

The secluded Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan was on its way to becoming the world's newest democracy Monday, as voters cast ballots to select a parliament and end more than a century of absolute monarchy.

But like much else in this mountainous land - long known as quirky holdout from modernity, allowing television and the Internet only in 1999 - Monday's vote came with a twist: It was the king, not the people, who pressed for democracy. "His Majesty is like our father. We all prefer our father," said Karma Tsheweng, a 35-year-old mechanic who was waiting to cast his ballot in Thimphu, the capital.

The election for a 47-seat National Assembly is the latest step in Bhutan's slow engagement with the world, which began in the early 1960s. Back then Bhutan was a medieval society with no paved roads, no electricity and no hospitals. Goods were bartered rather than bought, and almost no foreigners were let in.

But across the Himalayas, other isolated Buddhist kingdoms like Tibet and Sikkim were coming under the sway of foreign powers, and Bhutan - sandwiched between Asian giants India and China - decided it needed to change to survive. And it did. The tiny country of about 600,000 people now has a cash economy that is slowly lifting many people out of poverty and nearly everyone has access to schools and hospitals.

Blasts, fire hurt 100 at Pak border

AP, Peshawar

Nearly 40 trucks carrying fuel to U.S.-led forces in Afghanistan have been destroyed in two bomb attacks on the Pakistani border. Officials say about 100 people have been injured.

Local government official Muhammad Iqbal Khan said the blasts late Sunday were from two bombs planted in a parking lot on the Pakistani side of the Torkham customs post. He said Monday that nine people have been detained for questioning - three parking lot attendants and six border guards who were on duty at the time.

Israeli warning to Abbas over deal with Hamas

AFP, Jerusalem

A senior Israeli official on Monday warned Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas against striking a reconciliation deal with Hamas, saying it would effectively sink faltering Middle East peace talks.

"Mahmud Abbas must decide whether he wants to continue negotiations with Israel or if he wants to renew an alliance with Hamas, as he cannot have both at the same time," the official said on condition of anonymity.

The sentiment was echoed by other unnamed Israeli officials cited by both army and public radio in their morning news reports. The statements came a day after Abbas's Fatah signed an agreement with Hamas in Sanaa to open first direct talks between the two bitter rivals since the Islamists bloody seizure of the Gaza Strip nine months ago.

Pressure grows on US Democrats to unite

AFP, Washington

Democrats came under mounting pressure Monday to close ranks behind a single candidate, as Hillary Clinton struggles to wrest the mathematical advantage from Barack Obama to win their party's nod for the White House. The bitter presidential campaign faces weeks of harsh confrontation ahead of next month's crucial primary clash in Pennsylvania, one of 10 remaining contests to decide who will face off against Republican John McCain in November's election. New York Senator Clinton is in an uphill battle to close the gap between her and Obama, the Illinois senator who holds a lead in the number of nominating delegates, the nationwide popular vote and the number of contests won in the campaign. Clinton's chances of snatching a victory are receding by the day, analysts said, with respected US newspaper Politico stressing Obama would have to be "hit by a political meteor" for Clinton to win the Democratic death-match. Clinton's own campaign reportedly has acknowledged that there is virtually no way she can finish ahead of Obama in pledged delegates.

Court acquits Zardari in murder case

AP, Karachi

A prosecutor says a Pakistani court has acquitted the widower of slain opposition leader Benazir Bhutto in the murder of a retired judge. Asif Ali Zardari took control of Bhutto's party after her December assassination. The party won last month's elections and now dominates parliament. Zardari was charged in 2002 with playing a role in the murder of Nizam Din and his son. The men were shot to death in Karachi in 1996. Prosecutor Naimatullah Randhawa said Monday a court acquitted Zardari "due to lack of evidence." Parliament was set to elect a longtime Bhutto aide as prime minister on Monday. Pakistan People's Party co-chairperson Asif Ali Zardari has categorically said that Yousuf Raza Gilani will be the country's new prime minister for five years and not for three months.

Fatah, Hamas agree to talk more

AP, San'a

Fatah and Hamas agreed Sunday on the goal of uniting in a single Palestinian government but failed to resolve the crucial question of how the rival factions should share power. After five days of talks using Yemeni officials as intermediaries, the West Bank-based Fatah government met face-to-face with representatives of the Hamas militants who seized control of the Gaza Strip in June. The two sides signed a declaration that both accept a Yemeni initiative calling for the creation of a national unity government and the rebuilding of security forces loyal to that government instead of factions. Fatah insists that Hamas must give up power in Gaza as part of any reconciliation deal. Hamas counters that Fatah must restore Hamas to a position of power in the West Bank as well as Gaza. The accord signed in San'a appeared to lean toward the Fatah version by calling simply for a national unity government in Gaza and the West Bank. Fatah said the plan should be implemented, but Hamas said it was just the basis for more dialogue.