By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer 59 minutes ago
BAGHDAD, Iraq - Four American soldiers were killed when insurgents attacked their patrol in a northern Iraqi city, and a car bomb targeting a joint U.S.-Iraqi patrol in Baghdad killed seven people, including one U.S. soldier, the military said Wednesday.
In the attack in the north, a Task Force Liberty patrol was investigating explosions in the area when a roadside bomb detonated. The patrol then came under small-arms fire late Tuesday in Beiji, 155 miles north of Baghdad, a military statement said.
Four U.S. soldiers were killed, while five American soldiers and a U.S. contractor were wounded, the military said.
Insurgents attacked the convoy with rocket-propelled grenades, damaging two Humvees and a Bradley Fighting Vehicle, said Beiji police Lt. Ali Abdul-Hameed. Witnesses said the Bradley fell into a canal and that a U.S. helicopter transported the casualties.
The car bomb exploded in the western Baghdad neighborhood of Ghazaliyah, killing four civilians and three police, said 1st Lt. Thair Mahmoud. Another seven people were wounded, including five U.S. soldiers who received minor injuries.
The violence came a day after a suicide car bomber struck a U.S. convoy waiting at an intersection in Baghdad, killing seven people including one American soldier and wounding more than 90. Six Iraqi civilians also were killed; scores of Iraqis and two U.S. soldiers were wounded.
More than a dozen others died in scattered attacks across the capital on Tuesday.
As fighting in Iraq rages on, the United States hopes progress on the political front, including adoption of a democratic constitution, will help deflate the Sunni Arab-led rebellion and enable the Americans and their partners to begin withdrawing troops next year.
"It's important that they stay with their timetable" on the constitution, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Tuesday. "This will be a critical step in persuading the majority of the Iraqis that the new Iraq is worth fighting for, that they have a stake in it."
Rumsfeld told Pentagon reporters that the constitution "could well turn out to be one of the most powerful weapons to be deployed against the terrorists" and the insurgents are "determined to stop the constitutional process through terror and intimidation."
But Iraqi political leaders drafting the charter have shown little sign of compromise over questions like the role of Islam and federalism in the nation's future.
Faction leaders conferred for about four hours Tuesday night hoping to overcome their differences and produce a charter by Monday. Individual factions met privately Wednesday, but President Jalal Talabani said there would be no formal collective meeting.
The constitution also needs approval from voters in an Oct. 15 referendum. Passage would lead to elections in mid-December.
At the beginning of Tuesday's meeting, presidential spokesman Kamran Qaradaghi told reporters the latest talks would focus on federalism, distribution of wealth and the elections law.
Kurds demand that Iraq be transformed into a federal state so they can continue to run their autonomous mini-state in the north. Sunni Arabs oppose federalism because they fear the Kurds want to secede and dismember Iraq.
Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani joined the talks Tuesday. Barzani, who had been stranded in northern Iraq by the sandstorms, has vowed not to compromise on federalism.
A prominent Sunni Arab on the constitutional committee, Saleh al-Mutlaq, suggested that federalism be decided by the parliament to be elected in December.
"We will not accept federalism in these circumstances," al-Mutlaq told The Associated Press. He warned that if Kurdish demands are accepted, "they will have grave consequences" for the future of Iraq. He did not elaborate.
Meanwhile, a group of women activists issued a statement Tuesday insisting that the new constitution guarantee women's rights "as an essential part of guaranteeing human rights of all members of Iraqi society" regardless of gender, race, religion or sect.
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