World

7 GIs Dead In Wave Of Attacks

May 1, 2005 / 9:47 AM EDT / CBS/AP

In other developments:

Pfc. Lynndie England, the most recognizable figure from the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, plans to plead guilty next week to several of the criminal charges against her, her lawyer said.

An Army investigation concluded U.S. soldiers were not at fault when they shot an Italian agent rescuing a kidnapped journalist in Iraq and recommended no disciplinary action. Italy would not sign off on the report and has launched a criminal probe.

U.S. and Iraqi officials had hoped to curb support for the militants by including members of the Sunni Arab minority in a new Shiite-dominated Cabinet that will be sworn in Tuesday.

However, the lineup named by incoming Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari after months of political wrangling excluded Sunnis from meaningful positions and left the key defense and oil ministries — among other unfilled posts — in temporary hands.

Sunnis are believed to be the backbone of Iraq's insurgency.

One of Saturday's suicide attacks targeted the offices of the National Dialogue Council, a coalition of 10 Sunni Arab factions that had been negotiating for a stake in the new government. The blast killed at least one council guard and injured 18 other Iraqis, police said.

Fearing the violence could spread, Iraq's neighbors pledged at a meeting Saturday in Turkey to boost border security and increase intelligence sharing with the country's newly elected government, steps that could stem the flow of insurgents slipping across the poorly patrolled frontiers. Syria, meanwhile, announced it would restore relations with Iraq after more than two decades.

At least 1,581 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.