European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 21, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 stars and stripes saturday april 21 2007 fighting flares around by Hamid Ahmed the associated press Baghdad us ground forces and helicopters fought with gunmen around a shiite mosque in Western Baghdad before Friday prayers killing two suspected insurgents the american military said the military first denied reports by wit Nesses and iraqi to that american helicopters had fired near the Blu domed mosque in Bayaa a religiously mixed neighbourhood in Western Baghdad several hours later however the Mili tary said a review of the firefight indicated that its helicopters had fired about 100 rounds of 30 my ammunition soldiers searching nearby buildings found chemicals believed to be bomb Mak ing materials and detained an iraqi civil Ian the military said iraqi soldiers searched the Ali Albai Yaa mosque but found no weapons or suspects the coalition suffered no casualties and damage to the mosque was limited to sever Al Small Bullet holes an a photographer on the scene said in the holy City of Kufa 100 Miles South of Baghdad Abdul Hadi Al Mohamadali a Sheik Loyal to Radical shiite cleric Muntada a Sadr used his Sermon at the Kufa mosque to condemn us forces american forces Are conducting an offensive on a mosque in Albai Yaa and mar Tyr worshippers Are falling he said let tie government see what the occupiers Are doing to our people on monday Alsa drs six ministers quit the iraqi Cabinet to protest prime minister Nouri Alma lims refusal to Back Calls for a timetable for us withdrawal also Friday the us military announced the death of a Marine in a rocket attack the night before on a base South of the capital two others were wounded in the attack on a us base in Mahmud Yah about 20 Miles South of Baghdad a statement said Almalik said thursday that an open Battle was being waged for control of Khalid iraqi troops secure the area around a mosque Friday in Baghdad clashes erupted Between gunmen and us and iraqi forces around a shiite mosque in Western Baghdad just before Friday prayers the us military said two insurgents were killed Iraq a Day after More than 230 people died in the worst spasm of mass killings since president Bush announced his plan in january to increase american troop lev Els in Iraq by 30000 three of the five brigades ordered into Iraq by Bush to Stem Baghdad violence have arrived bringing the us forces in the country to 146000 officials want the rest in place by june for a total of 160000 and us commanders urged patience say ing the nine Eskold operation was still just beginning but already it showed holes about a week ago a suicide bomber penetrated several layers of Security to hit in Side parliament in the heart of the unguarded Green zone an iraqi Law maker was killed the same Day a truck bomber collapsed a More than 50yearold Bridge killing 11 people and sending cars careening into the Tigris River below in an earlier breach a bomber targeted Iraq sunni Arab Deputy prime minister Salam Al Rubaie at a Small mosque attached to his Home Al Rubaie who was injured in the attack said in remarks aired Friday that an Arab terrorist was behind the attack not one of his guards As earlier reported at the Pentagon on thursday a top Gen eral predicted the pattern was Likely to continue mosque us deaths in Iraq the associated press As of thursday at least 3314 Mem Bers 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 2691 died As a re sult of hostile action according to the military numbers the a count is three higher Man the defense departments tally last updated thursday at 10 am not 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 since the Start of us military operations in Iraq 24764 us servicemen Bers have been wounded in hostile action according to the defense depart ments weekly tally the latest deaths reported by the Mili tary a Soldier was killed wednesday by Small arms fire in southwestern Bagh dad two soldiers were killed wednes Day then their vehicle was struck by an explosive North of Baghdad the latest identifications reported by the no identifications reported we saw an initial drop in their Mili Tants activity after the Start of the Bagh dad Security operation said maj Gen Michael Barbero an operations official for the joint chiefs of staff and now lately weve seen an in crease he said the violence was Likely to continue until we can defeat these forces Gates Iraq politics will play role in us troop strength by Lolita c Baldor the associated press Baghdad defense Secre tary Robert Gates said the Bush administration will take into account Iraq political Progress when deciding this summer whether or not to bring Home some of the thousands of extra troops the us has sent to tamp Down violence there our commitment to Iraq is Lon term but if s not a commit ment to having our Young men and women patrolling Iraq streets opened deadly Gates said at a press conference Gates said he encouraged the iraqis to pass legislation on Politi Cal reconciliation and the sharing of Oil revenues among the sunnis shiites and kurd he told the iraqis he hoped their Council of representatives would not recess for the summer without passing the legislation whether they take action on these measures will be considered when he and the commanders re View the military buildup later this summer Gates told them the fact is that As i indicated Progress and reconciliation will be an important element in our evaluation in the late summer Gates said and i think that s As far As i need to go on that Point Gates remarks reflected the Bush administrations Effort to strike a balance Between reassuring the iraqis of us support and pressuring their leaders to use this Opportunity to show they Are capable of bringing the country to Gether and averting a full scale civil War Bush hinged his new Iraq Strat egy not Only on the troop buildup but also on the Prospect that the iraqis would demonstrate that they can reconcile the sectarian divisions that Are behind much of the daily violence Gates said prime minister Nouri Almalik assured him that he and the Council want to work very hard to bring about these changes but Almalik also re minded Gates that the Council is an Independent body Almalik in a statement re leased by his office said the main problem suffered by Iraq is political not a Security one his office also said the prime minister is optimistic iraqis will overcome their sectarian ethnic and political differences at the news conference with Gates iraqi defense minister Abdulqadir Alobaidi said the iraqis Are Maming Progress in countering the insurgency our need for support is get Ting less and less each Day Alobaidi said Gates said he was modestly optimistic that we will see steady Progress in combating the Vio Lence but he said there Proba Bly will be Tough Days to come Gates said the us troop build up will continue at least until late summer we need some time for things to work he said he assured Almalik that the us continues to be committed to the iraqi government and the Baghdad Security plan Gates said he rejected Senate majority Leader Harry reids assessment that the War was already lost and the troop buildup was not Stem Ming violence in Iraq i respect fully disagree Gates said when asked by a reporter about reids thursday remarks Gates unannounced Stop in Iraq began thursday and Lolita defense Secretary Robert Gates arrives at Camp fal Ujah Iraq after visiting Baghdad on thursday throughout the visit he took a decidedly stronger tone warning the troubled nations leaders that american patience is wearing thin and urging them to quickly unite their warring factions Gates huddled in the former Al Faw Palace at Camp Victory for nearly three hours Friday morn ing with joint chiefs chairman Gen Peter Pace adm William Fallon and Gen David Petraeus and it Gen Ray Odierno the no 1 and 2 commanders in Iraq