World

2 GIs Killed As Bloody April Ends

April 30, 2004 / 3:45 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Almost a year after the end of major combat, and two months before the planned handover of power to Iraqi officials, the bloodiest month for U.S. troops in Iraq ended Friday with the deaths of two Marines in Fallujah.

The troops were killed in a suicide car bombing near the Marines' camp, and six others were wounded, the military said.

The deaths raised to 128 the number of U.S. service members killed in combat in April, more than were killed during any other month, or during the major combat phase of the war that was declared ended on May 1, 2003.

At least 738 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003. Up to 1,200 Iraqis also have been killed this month.

Meanwhile, military commanders sought to clarify the nature of the deal that is being negotiated over patrolling Fallujah.

Gen. John Abizaid cautioned the Fallujah deal was an opportunity, not a final agreement, and said Iraqis must still meet conditions.

"It's a possible breakthrough," Abizaid said of efforts by U.S. commanders in Iraq to have a battalion of Iraqi soldiers handle security within Fallujah. "But certainly the conditions that must be met are foremost in our minds."

Members of a 1,100-member Iraqi force moved into the former Marine positions in southeastern Fallujah and raised the Iraqi flag. But spokesman Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said Marines not withdrawing, just repositioning.

In other developments:

President Bush on Friday defended his speech a year ago on the deck of an aircraft carrier proclaiming the end of major combat in Iraq and said "we're making progress, you bet" in bringing stability to the war-torn country.

Arab television stations led their newscasts with photographs of Iraqi prisoners being humiliated by U.S. military police, with one main channel saying the pictures were evidence of the "immoral practices" of American forces. A soldier accused in the case wrote that his commanders ignored his requests for rules of conduct.

Radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr told worshippers at prayers that he will not accept calls to tone down his anti-American rhetoric, adding that "America is the enemy of Islam and Muslims, and jihad is the path of my ancestors."

The U.S.-led coalition has spent less than 5 percent of the $18.4 billion Congress appropriated for reconstruction, and is moving $300 million in rebuilding funds to pay for security and other costs, the Washington Post reports.

Five Democratic U.S. senators have asked congressional auditors to investigate the use and activities of private military contractors in Iraq.

A Filipino civilian contractor was killed in Iraq, becoming the country's first casualty there.

Georgia will triple its troop contribution to Iraq because it believes stabilizing the country is critical to the global war on terrorism, Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania said.

Marines went into Fallujah to find those responsible for the March 31 killing and mutilation of four American contract workers, whose bodies were burned and dragged through the streets.

However, the United States has been under intense pressure from the United Nations, its international partners and its Iraqi allies to end the bloodshed, in which hundreds of Iraqi civilians are believed to have died.

Speaking of the negotiation situation in Fallujah, Abizaid said: "What we have there is an opportunity and not necessarily an agreement."

And he cautioned: "We should be very careful in thinking this effort to build this Iraqi (security patrol) capacity will calm down the situation in Fallujah overnight."

He asserted that "All military operations with regard to Fallujah are on the table," he said.

One possible sticking point in the talks could be a U.S. demand for insurgents to turn over those responsible for the killing and mutilation of four American contract workers.

In an apparent move to ease the negotiations, U.S. authorities Thursday released the imam of the city's main mosque, Sheik Jamal Shaker Nazzal, an opponent of the U.S. occupation who was arrested in October.

Despite Abizaid's public words of caution, a senior defense official said earlier Friday that an agreement had been reached to allow an Iraqi security force to patrol the city and end the monthlong siege.

Earlier Friday, one of three battalions of U.S. Marines packed up and withdrew from most of its positions in an industrial zone in the southern area of the city to make way for the turnover. U.S. military guards also permitted civilian cars to enter the city after undergoing searches.

Capt. Ziad Khalas of the Iraqi security forces said Iraqi police and paramilitary forces expected to enter the city later Friday.

Earlier, a senior defense official in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity, had said a deal was reached by U.S. commanders inside Iraq to have the brigade led by Maj. Gen. Jassim Mohammed Saleh, a veteran of Saddam's Republican Guard.

Abizaid refused to confirm Saleh's leadership, or provide any details.

Saleh, a veteran of Saddam Hussein's Republican Guard, wore his uniform from the former Iraqi military bearing his general's insignia as he met with tribal leaders in a Fallujah mosque earlier Friday. One member of his entourage was seen waving an Iraqi flag from his car, reports CBS News' Lisa Barron.

The senior defense official said the Iraqi soldiers' initial mission is to man checkpoints around the city. Marines will remain on or near the city's perimeter and plan at a later stage to conduct their own patrols inside the city, the official said on condition of anonymity.

The official said the Fallujah Brigade will consist of former Iraqi officers and enlisted soldiers in the Fallujah area who volunteer and are vetted by U.S. authorities. The official contended that no representative of the insurgents who are holed up inside the city was part of the agreement.

Despite the talks, skirmished continued between Marines and guerrillas.

Three F/A-18 Hornets flying off the aircraft carrier USS George Washington in the Gulf dropped three 500-pound bombs Thursday on targets in the Fallujah area, Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Danny Hernandez said.