Guerrillas kill two US soldiers in Iraq

GUERRILLAS killed two American soldiers north of Baghdad, and US forces yesterday said they were holding two key members of Saddam Hussein’s Republican Guard and a paymaster for his feared Fedayeen militia.

An attack 15 miles south of Tikrit, Saddam’s hometown, killed one US soldier and wounded a second yesterday when their four-vehicle convoy hit a roadside bomb, according to Major Josslyn Aberle, spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry Division.

The military also reported a soldier killed and two wounded in a bomb attack on Tuesday near Taji, 12 miles north of the capital. The attack was in the same region where an oil pipeline fire sent flames 200 feet into the air.

The military also reported killing two Iraqis in separate incidents in the Baqouba region, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad. Maj Aberle said the two were killed after opening fire on troops.

Officials with the 4th Infantry said they released 10 other men taken in a sweep through the outskirts of Tikrit, keeping four in custody. The military still had not released names but said the four included a Republican Guard corps-level chief of staff, a guard division commander and a paymaster for the militia. A fourth man kept in custody was not identified.

None of the identified detainees is among the Army’s 55 most-wanted Iraqis. All those detained in the sweep were members of a family described as a pillar of support for the ousted regime, said US Lieutenant Colonel Steve Russell.

“They were trying to support the remnants of the former regime by organising attacks, through funding and by trying to hide former regime members,” Lt Col Russell said.

The latest death comes as the Bush administration faces growing questions over how long troops will remain in Iraq. The commander of US forces has said all troops in Iraq should expect to serve for at least a year, with brief rest breaks in the region and possibly a few days at home.

Iraq’s US administrator Paul Bremer said yesterday the return of troops depends on the progress Iraqis make in forming a sovereign government.

He said he expected it to take eight months to draw up a constitution, then elections would be held to create a government. Mr Bremer urged Iraqis and the world to look beyond the daily shoot-outs and power cuts to newly found freedoms in Iraq. “I don’t accept the definition of a country in chaos. Most of this country is at peace,” he said.

“We have a problem with attacks against coalition forces in a small area of the country by a small group of bitter-end people resisting the new Iraq. We will deal with them and we will dominate them. They will either be killed or they will be captured.” Mr Bremer said that while Iraqis complain of unsafe streets and shortages of power, they must also realise that Saddam's fall has improved their lives.

“It’s important to ... look beyond the shootouts and blackouts and remind ourselves of a range of rights that Iraqis enjoy today because of the coalition’s military victory,” he said.