Marines Kill 25 Insurgents in Ramadi BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. Marines killed 25 insurgents and captured 25 others during fierce fighting in Ramadi, a hotbed of the insurgency against U.S. and Iraqi forces, the American military said Thursday. A decapitated body, meanwhile, was found on the banks of the Tigris River in northern Iraq (news - web sites).
The gruesome discovery was made Wednesday, the same day militants announced they had abducted three Kenyans, three Indians and an Egyptian and would behead one every 72 hours starting Saturday if their countries did not announce intentions to withdraw troops and citizens from Iraq. The Kenyan government on Thursday urged all its citizens to leave Iraq immediately. The fighting Wednesday in Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, wounded 14 U.S. servicemen, but none of the injuries was life-threatening, and 10 returned to duty, the Marines said. In Baghdad, insurgents fought U.S. soldiers on Haifa Street, the scene of a shootout earlier this month, an unidentified hospital official told Associated Press Television News. Two Iraqis were reported wounded. Interior Ministry official Sabah Khadum said Iraqi police and intelligence forces arrested 200 people, including several "non-Iraqi Arabs," in the Haifa Street operation and discovered a huge cache of weapons. U.S. and Iraqi officials have long complained that fighters from neighboring countries are battling coalition forces. The decapitated body, found Wednesday night on the banks of the Tigris in the town of Beiji, was clad in an orange prison-style jumpsuit that kidnappers have forced some of their captives to wear before beheading them. Beside the body, which was still unidentified, was a head in a sack, Beiji police official Taha Abdullah told The Associated Press. Also Thursday, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said a headless body found in the Tigris on July 14 was identified as that of Bulgarian truck driver Georgi Lazov, 30, one of two hostages from that country who were kidnapped June 29 near the northern city of Mosul. A group affiliated with Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said at the time that it had killed a Bulgarian hostage, and video broadcast on Al-Jazeera showed Lazov, kneeling before three masked men. The other Bulgarian, whose fate was unknown, was identified as Ivaylo Kepov, 32. On Wednesday, a militant group calling itself "The Holders of the Black Banners" released a videotape of the seven hostages � all truck drivers for Kuwait & Gulf Link Transport Co. Indian officials in Baghdad worked with Egypt and Kenya to free the captives, an Indian official said from New Delhi on condition of anonymity. Egyptian presidential spokesman Magad Abdel Fattah told the AP his country's diplomats also were trying to win their release. "We are dealing with all the political leaders, we are dealing with all the religious leaders, we are dealing with everyone we know," he said. Kenyan officials said they did not know how many Kenyans are in Iraq or Kuwait and urged their compatriots to register at the nearest diplomatic mission. But the captors warned that every Kuwaiti company dealing with Americans "will be dealt with as an American." Video on Indian television broadcast comments of some of the hostages. "KGL sent us by force to Iraq. Now they (the captors) have caught us. They say we are siding with America. Along with us, our trucks have also been seized," said the captive, identified as Tilak Raj Jarib Das, 38. "We are being treated well. They are giving us food and drink. We are three Indians, three Kenyans and one Egyptian." In Kuwait, KGL official Rana Abu-Zaineh confirmed that seven of its employees were kidnapped. "The most important thing for KGL is that the seven people arrive here safely and talk to their relatives, whatever that takes," she said. The threat came two days after the Philippines withdrew its 51 peacekeepers from Iraq, meeting the demands of militants holding a Filipino truck driver. Angelo dela Cruz was welcomed home in the Philippines on Thursday. Iraqi and U.S. officials warned that abductions might surge as a result. Egypt, Kenya and India are not part of the 160,000-member U.S.-led coalition, although interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi appealed last week to India and Egypt for troops. More than 60 foreigners have been taken hostage in recent months in Iraq, where thousands of foreigners toil as contract workers for coalition forces, in reconstruction jobs or as truck drivers hauling cargo for private companies. The daylong clashes in Ramadi began after insurgents detonated a roadside bomb near a Marine convoy Wednesday afternoon, and as many as 10 Iraqi fighters then attacked with small arms and rocket- propelled grenades. That skirmish led to ensuing engagements pitting members of the 1st Brigade Combat team against an estimated 75-100 insurgents, the Marines' statement said. American ground forces backed by U.S. warplanes clashed with insurgents for hours, and the Marines safely detonated two homemade bombs, including one in a car. Twenty-five insurgents died in the fighting and another 17 were wounded, the statement said. Marines spokesman Lt. Col. T.V. Johnson said the situation in Ramadi was "relatively quiet" Thursday and "Marines continue to operate from bases within the city, as they have since arriving early this year." But Ramadi shopkeepers shuttered their stores Thursday, apparently in fear of more clashes. Meanwhile, in the southeastern Baghdad suburb of Zayouna, a roadside bomb exploded as a civilian minibus passed it Thursday, killing two people and injuring two others, said police Col. Abdel Karim. In the northern city of Kirkuk, authorities said assailants attacked police forces in two separate incidents, killing one policeman and seriously injuring another. In another attack, Aslan Mohammed Rashim, a cultural center official and ethnic Turkoman, was shot as he walked to his car Wednesday night, Maj. Gen. Amer Mohammed Amin of the Iraqi National Guard. Rashim was hospitalized in stable condition. There were no reports of U.S. deaths Thursday. On Wednesday, the death toll of American troops in Iraq since the war started in 2003 reached 900 after a roadside bomb north of Baghdad killed one U.S. 1st Infantry Division soldier. Allawi renewed his plea for military support in talks with officials in Egypt Thursday. An official in the Egyptian president's office, speaking on condition of anonymity Thursday, said Egypt would only send troops if other Arabs did so first. On Wednesday, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit had said: "Egypt will not send forces in any case." Fattah, the Egyptian presidential spokesman, told AP on Thursday that Egypt was "willing to help," but wanted to see whether the Iraqis themselves could bring a measure of calm. On Wednesday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) said the world body has not received a single firm commitment of troops six weeks after the U.N. Security Council authorized a separate force to protect U.N. staff. Annan ordered U.N. staff to leave in October following two bombings of U.N. offices, including an Aug. 19 blast that killed 22 people, including a top envoy. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Yahoo! Domains - Claim yours for only $14.70 http://us.click.yahoo.com/Z1wmxD/DREIAA/yQLSAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.arsip.da.ru *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. 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