World

Shelling Hits U.S. HQ In Baghdad

December 13, 2003 / 10:12 AM EST / CBS/AP

Iraqi rebels fired a salvo of mortar shells at coalition headquarters early Friday in an incident that highlighted their ability to strike at the seat of U.S. power there.

There were no injuries in the attack and only light damage was reported to a building in the so-called Green Zone, the downtown area housing the headquarters of the U.S.-led coalition, a military spokesman said.

It was the first such attack since U.S. forces mounted a massive counteroffensive in Baghdad last month — dubbed "Operation Iron Hammer" — aimed at preventing strikes against the coalition's military and civilian targets.

In other recent developments:

A Pentagon audit has found Vice President Dick Cheney's former company, Halliburton, may have overcharged the Army by $1.09 per gallon for nearly 57 million gallons of gasoline delivered to citizens in Iraq, senior defense officials say.

Auditors found potential overcharges of up to $61 million for gasoline that a Halliburton subsidiary delivered as part of its no-bid contract to help rebuild Iraq's oil industry.

But the company apparently didn't profit from the discrepancy, according to officials who briefed reporters Thursday on condition of anonymity. The problem, the officials said, was that Halliburton may have paid a Kuwaiti subcontractor too much for the gasoline in the first place.

Friday's shelling came just hours after three suicide bombers in a furniture truck blew themselves up at the gates of a U.S. Army base in Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad, killing one soldier and wounding 14 others. It was the third suicide attack on American troops in Iraq this week.

Also Thursday, the military reported one U.S. soldier drowned and another was missing after a patrol boat accident on the Tigris River in Baghdad.

Ghazi al-Talabani, director of the Northern Field Protection Force, which guards oil pipelines in northern Iraq, said an explosion set a pipeline ablaze, forcing officials to halt the flow.

In Baghdad, Charles Krohn, a U.S. defense spokesman, said by telephone from his room inside the Green Zone that he heard the explosions.

"I heard what appeared to be incoming mortar rounds," Krohn said. "I was shaken and I heard a couple of thumps. I felt the vibrations."

The zone includes the Al Rasheed Hotel, which was rocketed Oct. 26 in an attack that killed a U.S. colonel and wounded 18 other people. Deputy U.S. Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying in the hotel at the time but escaped injury.

Meanwhile,, U.S. officials dropped hints Thursday that an eligibility list for Iraqi contracts that has come under intense international scrutiny was subject to change, prompting speculation that an exception might be made for Canada — and its incoming pro-American prime minister.

Outgoing Prime Minister Jean Chretien said President Bush confirmed Canada's eligibility in a farewell phone call Thursday. Asked about Chretien's comment, the White House refused to discuss it.

But White House spokesman Scott McClellan said, "If countries want to join in the efforts going on in Iraq — the coalition efforts, and the efforts by the Iraqi people — we look forward to discussing ways that they can do that, and circumstances can change."

Japan on Friday called for "international cooperation" in rebuilding Iraq, but stopped short of directly criticizing the United States for barring countries who'd opposed the war from winning reconstruction contracts.