US Soldier Killed in Iraq as Rumsfeld Seeks International Troops

11/11/2003| IslamWeb

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has called for "a lot of troops" from other countries to help stabilize Iraq, after the deaths of a US soldier and a Kurdish fighter working with Iraq's border guard. Three US soldiers were wounded early Monday when a roadside bomb exploded by a military convoy in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, police said, although the army had no immediate confirmation. The US soldier was killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack late Sunday south of the capital, the coalition said Monday. Iraq's northern border with Turkey was also tense as US troops and Iraqi Kurdish border guards clashed with suspected Turkish Kurd rebels over the weekend. A local Kurdish fighter working for the Iraqi border guard was killed and 13 others were wounded in the confrontation near the Turkish frontier, a US army spokeswoman said Monday. Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul identified the gunmen as members of the Turkish Kurdish rebel Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). Gul has been lobbying for the United States to move against the PKK guerrillas. He billed the shootout as the first armed confrontation between US forces and the Turkish Kurd separatist movement. The US army, however, said it was not clear who the attackers were. US forces called in Apache gunships which opened fire on the gunmen who then fled, the military spokeswoman said. In Washington, Rumsfeld told reporters the United States is seeking troops in larger numbers from 14 countries in addition to 32 others that already have provided some troops to the coalition forces in Iraq. "I would like to see a lot of troops from other countries. And I'll tell you why: I think it's important for other countries to have a commitment to Iraq, and to the success in Iraq," he told reporters at the Foreign Press Center here. "But we don't want it to be countries that don't want to be there, or countries that don't want larger numbers there. Because we feel people ought to do that which they believe is in their best interest," he said. There are currently about 22,000 troops from countries other than the United States in Iraq, grouped in two multinational divisions in the southern part of the country. About 130,000 US troops are in the country. But as attacks on US forces have mounted, Washington has had trouble convincing other countries to come forward with more troops. A troop offer by Turkey was withdrawn last week after the Iraqi Governing Council opposed the deployment of Turkish troops in the country. Foreign fighters and loyalists of ousted leader Saddam Hussein have been blamed for taking US and Iraqi lives daily and for driving out international aid organizations. Meanwhile, the chiefs of several UN agencies working in Iraq arrived in Cyprus Monday for two weeks of consultations following the deadly bomb attack on their Baghdad headquarters, said a UN spokeswoman. "Heads of the humanitarian agencies involved in Iraq are here for consultations to assess the whole situation and security is one aspect," said Veronique Taveau. The consultations will begin in earnest on Tuesday at UN compound in Nicosia. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Soldiers carry the flag draped casket of Army Sergeant Joel Perez 10 November, 2003 at the Arlington Cemetery in Kearny, New Jersey. (AFP/Getty Images/Jose Jimenez