Attack shuts off Iraqi city

An indefinite curfew was imposed Wednesday for all vehicle and pedestrian traffic in the central Iraqi city of Samarra, following an attack on a US convoy in the area, the US military and Iraqi police said.

“There is currently, and until further notice, no vehicle or pedestrian activity allowed in Samarra,” said a spokesman for Task Force Liberty.

The insurgent-riddled Samarra, about 60 miles north of Baghdad, is part of the Sunni Triangle north of Baghdad, a centre of the anti-American insurgency.

Earlier in the day, a bomb had exploded near a US Army patrol in central Iraq, killing one soldier and wounding five others, the US command said.

The attack occurred in Salaheddin province, though the military did not specify where. The soldiers were assigned to Task Force Liberty based in Tikrit and their names were withheld pending notification of kin, the US command said.

Police Lt. Col. Ayoub Mahmoud said a roadside bomb had hit the US convoy in Samarra, setting the vehicle on fire. Following the incident, US forces blocked all entrances and exits to the city, he said.

Elsewhere, a senior Baghdad International Airport official was abducted today by gunmen, along with his driver and another companion, police said.

Mahir Yassin, director of the communication department at Baghdad airport, was kidnapped from Baghdad’s western Mansour neighbourhood on his way to work by assailants in two cars, said police Lt Saad Jawad.

The exclusive, largely residential neighbourhood, home to many foreign embassies, was the site of last week’s abduction of two Algerian diplomats, who on Wednesday were murdered by al-Qaida.

The 22-member Arab League, meanwhile, is considering holding an emergency Arab summit in the Egyptian bomb-stricken resort of Sharm El-Sheikh to discuss the situation in Iraq, Palestinian territories and terrorism.

Eleven members of the league have approved holding the summit in Sharm in mid-August, three Arab League officials said. A final decision has not been made.

Holding the summit in Sharm, a resort on the southern tip of the Sinai Peninsula, would be a sign of support for Egypt after it suffered its worst ever terror attack with a weekend series of blasts that killed at least 88 people.

Among those countries willing to hold the summit in Sharm are Jordan, Iraq, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon and Sudan, the three officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because there had been no official announcement. Officials reached in Jordan would not comment on the summit, and were not immediately reachable in the other countries.

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has been discussing with other Arab leaders and kings the possibility of holding a summit, believing the situation in Iraq and the Palestinian territories were too dangerous to be left without taking a decisive position, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said last week.