Roadside Bomb Kills U.S. Soldier in Iraq

09/03/2004| IslamWeb

At least one U.S. soldier was killed and another injured by a roadside bomb north of the Iraqi capital on Tuesday, a military spokeswoman said. The soldiers were driving in a four vehicle convoy southeast of the town of Baquba, 40 miles north of Baghdad, when the bomb exploded at around 9:30 a.m, report said. Also, seven people were wounded Tuesday in Mosul after a grenade was tossed in a building housing a local governing council, police said. According to The AP, police said the attack may have been aimed at several American troops who had been in the building earlier, but left before the grenade was thrown. Seven people, including three policeman and four Iraqis were wounded in the explosion in the Bab al-Toub local council building. On Monday, attackers fired on a vehicle carrying two local council members, killing one and wounding the other, police said. Attackers also fired on a police checkpoint Monday night, wounding four policemen. Three of the attackers were killed, said Police Lt. Khalid Abdelkarim. In another incident, an Iraqi driving in a convoy of trucks hauling U.S. military equipment in Baghdad was killed when a roadside bomb went off. No soldiers were wounded in the blast, The AP reported. **Al-Sistani criticised the constitution*** Meanwhile the Iraq's Shia cleric has criticised the nation's newly signed interim constitution, saying it will not have legitimacy until it is approved by an elected body. The criticism from Ali al-Husayni al-Sistani devalued a lavish ceremony to mark the signing of the charter by the US-picked Iraqi Governing Council. "Any law prepared for the transitional period will not gain legitimacy except after it is endorsed by an elected national assembly," al-Sistani said in a statement. He added that "the adoption of this law marks a historic milestone in the Iraqi people's long journey from tyranny and violence to liberty and peace. While difficult work remains to establish democracy in Iraq, today's (Monday) signing is a critical step in that direction." **Turkey concerned*** Turkey also voiced unhappiness over the interim constitution, warning it would pave the way for more instability in the country. "The interim law does not satisfy us, it increases our concerns," Anatolia news agency quoted Justice Minister Cemil Cicek, as saying. But Cicek said Turkey saw the constitution "as an arrangement that will not help the establishment of permanent peace in Iraq and one that will allow for the continuation for a long time of unrest and instability there." He did not specify which provisions Turkey disliked. Ankara has repeatedly warned against moves in post-war Iraq that could help the Iraqi Kurds enhance their self-rule in the north of the country. It fears increased political influence for the Iraqi Kurds could set an example for their restive cousins in adjoining southeast Turkey, where a bloody Kurdish rebellion had only recently been subdued. Under the constitution, Iraqi Kurdistan will retain its federal status and the rest of Iraq will be given the right to prepare to form states. **PHOTO CAPTION*** An honor guard carries the casket of US Army Spc. Rodger G. Ling during his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. (AFP/Getty Images/Mark Wilson)