European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 17, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Stars and stripes tuesday april 17 2007 6 followers of a Sadr quit Iraq Cabinet ministers protesting Alma lims refusal to set us pullout Date by Qassemi Abdulzahra the associated press Baghdad Cabinet ministers Loyal to the Radical shiite cleric Muntada a Sadr resigned on monday to protest the prime ministers refusal to set a timetable for an american withdrawal raising the Prospect that the Mahdi army militia could return to the streets of Baghdad the number of bodies found dumped in Baghdad increased sharply on sunday to 30 from As Low As five in recent Days in a possible sign of the militias Resur gence even ahead of the six resignations the bodies most of them tortured before they were shot execution style Are widely believed to be the victims of shiite death squads associated with the Mahdi army a Sadr had ordered his fighters to hide their weapons and stay off the streets shortly before the us troop surge and Security crackdown began on feb 14 the departure of the six ministers while unlikely to topple prime minister Nouri Alma Likis government deals a significant blow to the us backed Leader who relied on support from the sadists to gain office earlier in the Day Nassar Elrubaie head of the sadist bloc declared that the ministers would give the six Cabinet seats to the government with the Hope that they will be Given to independents who represent the will of the people the White House said Alsa drs decision to pull out his ministers does not mean that a Malim loses his majority id remind you that Iraq system of government is a parliamentary democracy and if s different from our system so coalitions and those types of parliamentary democracies can come and go said Dana Perino a White House spokeswoman a Sadr who has tremendous influence among Iraq majority shiites has been upset about recent arrests of his Mahdi army fighters in the used Baghdad Security crackdown he and his followers have also criticized Almalik for failing to Back Calls for a timetable for us troops to leave the country the prime minister issued a statement later monday saying the withdrawal of multinational forces is linked to our armed forces readiness to take Over the Security command in All provinces the us military reported five Ameri can soldiers were killed three on monday in Baghdad two others saturday in Fallu Jah separately at least 13 iraqi soldiers were killed when More than a dozen gun men hiding in the Back of a truck am bushed their multary checkpoint near the Northern City of Mosul police said above shiite cleric Muntada a Sadr ordered his loyalist Cabinet ministers to withdraw from the iraqi government the head of his parliamentary bloc said below president Bush makes remarks on the Iraq War supplemental funding legislation monday in the East room of the White House Gerald us deaths in Iraq the associated press As of sunday at least 3300 members of the us military have died since the beginning of the Iraq War in March 2003 according to an associated press count the figure includes seven Mili tary civilians at least 2674 died As a re sult of hostile action according to the military numbers the a count is eight higher than the defense tally last updated Friday at 10 am the British military has reported 142 deaths Italy 33 Ukraine 18 Poland 19 Bulgaria 13 Spain 11 Denmark six Al Salvador five Slovakia four Latvia three Estonia Netherlands Thailand two each and Australia Hun Gary Kazakhstan Romania one death each the latest deaths reported by the Mili tary a Soldier was killed saturday by a Roadside bomb South of Baghdad a Marine died saturday in Anbar province a Soldier was killed sunday by Small arms fire in Southern Baghdad the latest identifications reported by the military no identifications reported Bush dems owe troops in Iraq War funding by Ben Feller the associated press Bush prod Ding Congress to extend the Iraq War with out calling us troops Home said monday that democratic leaders owe it to veterans and their families to pass the War spending Bill he wants listen i understand republicans and democrats in Washington have differences Over the Best course in Iraq Bush said from the White House that1 s healthy that Normal and we should debate those differences but our troops should not be caught in the Middle surrounded by families of veterans Bush sought to set expectations for his meeting wednesday with congressional leaders of both parties in particular he aimed to pressure democratic lawmakers to fund the War without trying to Emit or wind Down the military Mission that s what were supposed to do were supposed to talk out our differences Bush said in looking Forward to the meeting i Hope the democratic leadership will drop their unreasonable demands for a precipitous withdrawal both the House of representatives and the Senate have passed Bills to both fund the War and Start drawing troops Home they Are expected this to week to begin negotiating a final version to Send to Bush he has pledged to veto it if it is not stripped of the provisions he opposes responded Senate majority Leader Harry Reid vice president Dick Cheney president Bush refuse to listen or acknowledge the other voices they Are Iso lated in their thinking and Are fitting our troops and our country Reid indicated he would be just As stub born during wednesdays meeting with the president the offer is that the president sign the Bill he said the Senate Bill would require a us troop exit in Iraq to begin within 120 Days with a completion goal of March 31 2008 the House Bill would order a combat troops out by sept 1 2008 most republicans stand with Bush on grounds that a timetable is a dangerous War policy vice president Dick Cheney mean while is predicting that democrats will be forced to give in in an interview broadcast sunday Cheney said Congress will end up passing a clean Bill that funds the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan without any troop withdrawal timetables democrats do not appear to have the votes to override a presidential veto they will not leave the troops in the Field without the resources they need Cheney said of the democrats asked what would happen if they dont Back Down Cheney said in willing to bet the other in fact they will 4 iraqis killed As Helo shot Down stars and stripes a coalition helicopter was struck by ground fire and four iraqi army soldiers were killed during an attack sunday on an iraqi combat outpost in Mosul no one was injured in the at tack on the helicopter according to a release issued by multinational division North iraqi soldiers destroyed two vehicles rigged with explosives during the attack they also treated the injured reinforced Security and returned fire apart from the four iraqi soldiers who were killed four were wounded two coalition helicopters that were nearby responded to the at tack insurgent fire struck one of the aircraft an oh58d Kiowa Warrior causing mechanical problems that forced it to land the pilots were rescued by a second helicopter returned to base and flew Back to the scene in another helicopter to continue the fight the downed aircraft was recovered by another air Crew two insurgents who drove vehicles and others were killed in the attack coalition forces kill 3 iraqi policemen stars and stripes coalition forces on monday killed three men later identified As iraqi police officers during a gun Battle officials said the forces were targeting an Al Aida in Iraq net work Northeast of ramada according to a release is sued by multinational Force Iraq during the operation they were shot at by men in two buildings and returned fire officials said they killed three men and wounded one the forces had coordinated their operation before hand and no iraqi police were known to be in the area officials said coalition forces express their deepest sympathies to the families of the iraqi police who were killed said it col Christopher Garver Menfi spokesman the incident is under investigation coalition forces later cleared a building and detained seven people suspected of having ties to Al Aida in Iraq us troops killed an iraqi Soldier in a similar Inci Dent near Mosul last month the troops targeting an Al Aida in Iraq network and a helicopter in the air were struck by Small arms fire from two buildings according to Menfi returning fire the troops killed a Man and wounded three others later identified As iraqi army soldiers according to the news release there was no immediate explanation of How the incident might have occurred