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Woman's death stokes Iraqi fury

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published June 1, 2006

BAGHDAD - The shooting death of a pregnant Iraqi, apparently by U.S. troops, as she was rushing to a hospital threw an intense spotlight Wednesday on the troubling issue of Iraqi civilian deaths.

Iraqi police and witnesses said the troops gunned down the woman and her cousin in their car. The U.S. military said the car entered a clearly marked prohibited area and failed to stop despite repeated signals; shots were fired to disable the vehicle, it said.

More than 4,000 Iraqis, many of them civilians, have been killed in war-related violence this year, including at least 936 in May, according to an Associated Press count. That makes May the second-deadliest month for Iraqis over the past year. Only March recorded more fatalities.

The figures show that civilians, not Iraqi security forces, are increasingly the casualties of violence. Eighty-two percent of the war-related Iraqi deaths recorded in May were civilians, compared with 61 percent in May 2005, when 746 Iraqis were killed.

The most striking change seems to be that insurgents are not as willing to sacrifice themselves as they were a year ago. During May 2005, about 36 suicide bombings killed at least 331 Iraqis and wounded 962.

This May, 11 suicide attacks killed at least 98 Iraqis and wounded 283 - less than one-third of the casualties of 12 months earlier.

Much of the violence is the result of attacks by Iraqis.

But on Tuesday, Nabiha Nisaif Jassim, a 35-year-old pregnant woman, and her cousin Saliha Mohammed Hassan, 57, became the latest victims of what many Iraqis think is the American troops' disregard for life.

Jassim's brother, Khalid Nisaif Jassim, said he was speeding to get to a maternity hospital in Samarra when shots were fired at his car.

The cousins' bodies were taken to Samarra General Hospital, where relatives said doctors failed to save Jassim's baby.

Nabiha Nisaif Jassim is survived by a husband and two children, 2 and 1. Her husband was waiting at the hospital for his wife when she was shot.

"May God take revenge on the Americans and those who brought them here," Jassim's brother said. "People are shocked and fed up with the Americans. People in Samarra are very angry with the Americans not only because of Haditha case but because the Americans kill people randomly, especially recently."

"The loss of life is regrettable and coalition forces go to great lengths to prevent them," the military said.

After incidents similar to that in Samarra, the U.S. military has offered financial compensation to the victims' families and an apology delivered by an officer.

Most accept the money. But in some cases, relatives refuse, viewing the cash offer as an insult. U.S. personnel are in some cases met by angry relatives shouting abuse.

Crackdown in Basra

Iraq's prime minister declared a state of emergency Wednesday in once peaceful and oil-rich Basra, as the sectarian and militia violence engulfing the country's capital spread to its southern economic heartland.

In his first major policy speech since his government was sworn in May 20, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki vowed to restore security in Iraq as attacks around the country claimed 25 lives and wounded dozens.

"We shall use an iron fist against the leaders of the gangs or those who threaten security," he said, apparently referring to the militias as well as rival tribal groups. "And we shall ask all security departments to draw up an effective and quick plan to achieve security."

Maliki promised to crack down on sectarian gangs in Basra and declared a monthlong state of emergency, which broadens arrest powers for Iraqi security services and establishes an evening curfew.

[Last modified June 1, 2006, 06:39:17]