Iraq

7 Spanish officers, 2 Japanese diplomats killed

BAGHDAD - Assailants ambushed Spanish intelligence officers Saturday, firing rocket-propelled grenades and rifles at their SUVs, killing seven of them.

One Spanish agent escaped the assault in Mahmudiyah, 18 miles south of Baghdad, Spanish Defense Minister Federico Trillo said.

Also, two Japanese diplomats were killed after their car was ambushed near Tikrit, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi said today. The deaths are the first of Japanese in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion.

Television footage showed a few youths gathered after the attack on the Spaniards, kicking the bodies. Helicopters from Spain's Plus Ultra Brigade later collected the bodies.

"We sacrifice our souls and blood for you, oh Saddam," some in the group chanted in Arabic, witnesses said. The praise for Iraq's ousted leader, Saddam Hussein, was not recorded on camera.

Spokesmen for Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar said the attack wouldn't cause Spain to end its presence in Iraq. Spain is one of the firmest supporters of the U.S.-led effort and sent 1,300 soldiers to help maintain order.

The two civilian four-wheel-drive vehicles were traveling south from Baghdad to the Hilla, said Capt. Ivan Morgan of a multinational division in southern Iraq.

One or two cars with Hussein loyalists were following the Spanish team, witnesses said. Near the site, they fired on the SUVs, forcing the lead vehicle off the road. A second band of attackers then fired rocket-propelled grenades and rifles.

The first car caught on fire, sparking a 20-minute gun battle.

At least 80 foreign soldiers have been killed in Iraq.

Kawaguchi said the two Japanese diplomats had been in Tikrit to attend a reconstruction aid conference. Their driver, whose nationality was not immediately known, was seriously injured, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Jiro Okuyama.

Kawaguchi said there would be no change to Japan's plans to dispatch more than 1,000 troops to support the U.S.-led reconstruction of Iraq.

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times 490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 Contact the Times | Privacy Policy Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright