U.S. Woman Among 4 Killed In Iraq Ambush
Democracy Group Ambushed By Gunmen; Meanwhile, 17 Dead In Sadr City Suicide Car Bombing
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A wounded student rests at al-Kindi hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday Jan. 17, 2007. Twin car bombs tore through a leading Baghdad university as students left classes in the deadliest attack in Iraq in nearly two months. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
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An Iraqi army officer said the attack on the Western convoy took place in Yarmouk, a predominantly Sunni neighborhood in western Baghdad. (AP / CBS)
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People stand by a car destroyed in a car bomb blast in Shiite district of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday Jan. 17, 2007. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
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An Iraqi army soldier mans a checkpoint outside Baghdad's Mustansiryah Univeristy, a day after it was targeted by twin bombings, January 17, 2007. (Getty Images/Ali Al-Saadi)
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The three-car convoy belonged to the Washington-based National Democratic Institute, according to Les Campbell, the not-for-profit group's Middle East director. He said the four dead included an American woman along with three security contractors a Hungarian, a Croatian and an Iraqi. Two others were wounded, one seriously, Campbell said by telephone from Washington. Their names were withheld until their families could be notified.
It appeared to be an attack with fairly heavy weapons, we don't know what kind, Campbell said. We have some information that a firefight ensued. Our security company responded to the attack.
A colleague of the American woman who was killed described her as an "incredibly dedicated, motivated individual," reports CBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan. The woman had been working in Iraq for several months. According to colleagues, all she wanted to do was make people's lives better.
An Iraqi army officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of security concerns, said the attack on the Western convoy took place in Yarmouk, a predominantly Sunni neighborhood in western Baghdad.
Campbell said the ambush took place at midday as the group returned from a program elsewhere in Baghdad.
The National Democratic Institute, the group whose convoy was attacked Wednesday, supports democratic processes and institutions worldwide. Its staffers in Baghdad run training programs in democracy and political participation, as well as women's rights. The group has had staffers in Iraq since June 2003, though Campbell would not specify how many, for security reasons.
The organization is headed by former U.S. Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, reports Logan. The group is now re-evaluating their operations to decide if they will continue working in Iraq.
Kenneth Wollack, president of the organization, said in his Washington office that this is a tragedy that has hit individuals that have been dedicated to the democratic future of Iraq.
The American woman was the first full-time worker for the group to be killed in Iraq. A security contractor for the organization was killed in March 2004.
In other developments:
Meanwhile, a suicide car bomb struck a market in the Shiite district of Sadr City and police said 17 people died, a day after a blast targeting university students killed 70 in what appeared to be a renewed campaign of Sunni insurgent violence against Shiites.
Few foreigners and even fewer women have been caught up in Iraq's recent wave of violence as many Western groups have left and those who remain have tightened security and curtailed their movements after a series of kidnappings and beheadings. The last known American female civilian to be killed was Marla Ruzicka, a 28-year-old rights activist from California who died in a car bombing in April 2005.
© MMVII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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