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Iraq

As holiday begins, Iraq quiet; group says it shot down copter

BAGHDAD - Al-Qaida in Iraq claimed Thursday it shot down a U.S. attack helicopter that crashed, killing two Marines, and a U.S. general said witnesses saw the aircraft take ground fire and break up in the air.

But few attacks by Sunni-led insurgents were reported in Iraq on Thursday as Sunni Arabs began the three-day religious holiday of Eid al-Fitr, which ends a month of fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Most Iraqi Shiites start the holiday today.

The AH-1W Super Cobra crashed Wednesday near Ramadi during daylong fighting in the insurgent stronghold 70 miles west of Baghdad. In addition to the two crewmen, an American lieutenant died when a bomb exploded as he was rushing to the crash site.

Another U.S. soldier died Thursday in a roadside bombing northeast of Baghdad, the military said.

In its statement, al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said that its military wing "downed a Super Cobra attack helicopter in Ramadi with a Strella rocket, thanks be to God."

The authenticity of the statement could not be determined. It appeared on an Islamic Web site and bore the nickname of the group's spokesman, Abu Maysara al-Iraqi. The U.S. military said the cause of the crash had not been determined.

However, Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch said witnesses "believe they saw a munition fired at the helicopter and saw the helicopter break in pieces in midair and then crash."

In a separate statement, al-Qaida in Iraq also said it had sentenced to death two Moroccan Embassy employees kidnapped last month in Iraq. The group had previously claimed the kidnap-slaying of three senior diplomats - one Egyptian and two Algerians - in a campaign to punish Arab countries for establishing ties with the U.S.-backed Iraqi government.

Two Iraqi policemen were killed in a drive-by shooting in Baghdad on Thursday, and bodies of 12 men who had been kidnapped and killed were found in a sewage station, police said.

As Eid al-Fitr began in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, no American patrols were seen on the streets for the first time in weeks. Iraqi police and soldiers were on duty instead in an apparent effort to reduce the chance of violence ruining the holiday.

The timing of this year's Eid al-Fitr holiday also is another sign of the deep divisions that developed between minority Sunnis and majority Shiites under Hussein, a Sunni who persecuted many Shiites.

The months of the Muslim calendar are lunar. Therefore, they start when the new moon is spotted by trustworthy members of the community. Based on that observance, Sunni clerics decided that Eid al-Fitr would begin on Thursday this year, while Shiites chose Friday.

[Last modified November 4, 2005, 01:42:07]