Iraq

Fears rise of Iraqi attacks on civilians

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The point-blank shooting of an unarmed British reporter on a Baghdad street and a grenade attack on a U.N. compound raised concern Sunday that Iraq's worsening insurgency - until now targeting only coalition troops and Iraqis accused of U.S. collaboration - will spread to Westerners in general.

On Sunday, an assailant shot and killed a U.S. soldier waiting to buy a soft drink at Baghdad University, firing once from close range in the third such assault in nine days. The style was similar to the killing of the young British freelance cameraman, who was shot in the head outside a Baghdad museum Saturday.

U.S. troops on patrol in Baghdad and other areas have been attacked several times a day, and Iraqi police and civilians perceived to be working with the occupying forces also have been targeted. In the most serious such attack, a bomb blast in the western town of Ramadi killed seven Iraqi police recruits as they graduated from a U.S.-taught training course on Saturday. Dozens more were injured.

U.S. Army Maj. William Thurmond said it was too early to tell whether a pattern was emerging that would suggest insurgents are targeting foreign civilians, but he said such a strategy could thwart news gathering and humanitarian relief efforts.

"Hopefully they're isolated events and we won't have to face them in the future," Thurmond said. "It might work to the advantage of someone who's trying to fight the coalition."

The killing of the television cameraman, 24-year-old Richard Wild, occurred around midday, while the victim was carrying no apparent sign that he was a reporter.

Wild, who arrived in the country two weeks ago aiming to be a war correspondent, was killed by a single pistol shot fired into the base of his skull from close range, colleagues said. The assailant fled into the crowd and was not apprehended.

The U.S. soldier killed Sunday at Baghdad University also was shot at close range. The soldier from the Army's 1st Armored Division was evacuated to a combat support hospital after the midday shooting. He died later, the U.S. military said.

He was the 26th American soldier to die in hostile action since May 1, when President Bush declared that major fighting had ended.

In a similar incident, an assailant with a pistol shot and critically injured a U.S. soldier in the neck on June 27 as he shopped on a Baghdad street.

On Saturday, insurgents fired a rocket-propelled grenade at the United Nations' International Organization for Migration office in Mosul, 240 miles northwest of Baghdad. The grenade slammed into a wall and damaged several cars, said Hamid Abdel-Jabar, a spokesman for the U.N. special representative in Iraq.

"There's no place for that in any civilized part of the world," Thurmond said. "As soon as we get hold of them, they're gone. We'll find them. We'll attack them. And if necessary we'll kill them."

Meanwhile, the United States agreed Sunday to release 11 Turkish special forces troops detained during a raid in northern Iraq, ending a standoff that strained efforts by the NATO allies to repair relations frayed over the Iraq war, a Turkish official said.

The announcement came after Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Vice President Dick Cheney for about half an hour on the phone Sunday.

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