Italian Navy Infantry of the "San Marco" Regiment comes back to the "White Horse" Italian Base near the southern Iraqi town of Nasiriyah after a mission in southern Iraq, Sunday, Dec. 7, 2003.
An Italian soldier of the "Sassari Brigade", Valeria Monachella uses her binoculars to inspect flames and thick black smoke coming from a damaged oil pipeline near the southern Iraqi town of Nasiriyah, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2003.There was no immediate explanation about what had caused the fire but the leakage may be caused by the obsolete conditions of the pipeline.
Italian soldiers of the "Sassari Brigade" are silhouetted at a checkpoint in the southern Iraqi town of Nasiriyah, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2003.
Shoes of an Iraqi woman are displayed next to her remains on the mass grave in Mahaweel, 50 miles south of Baghdad, Nov. 28, 2003. The mass grave at Mahaweel, with more than 3,100 sets of remains, is the largest of some 270 such sites across Iraq. They hold more than 300,000 bodies; some Iraqi political parties estimate there are more than 1 million there.
A U.S. soldier secures the area following an explosion in Baghdad, Friday, Dec. 5 2003. At least one person was killed and about 20 were wounded near the al-Samarrai mosque in Baghdad but it was not immediately clear what had caused the explosion. Many of those injured were traveling on a bus.
An Iraqi boy peers through a fence as he waits for his parents to buy gas in downtown Baghdad Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2003. People use gas for cooking and heating because of regular power shortages in the capital.
A U.S. helicopter flies over one of four giant busts of Saddam Hussein at one of the main palaces in Baghdad Tuesday Dec. 2, 2003. The four remaining statues were removed later in the day.
Baghdad University students walk past U.S. soldiers outside the Iraqi Natural History museum in Baghdad, Wednesday, Dec. 3, 2003. The museum was re-opened Wednesday.
An Iraqi takes a cigarette break at a scrap metal yard in Baghdad Wednesday, Dec 3, 2003. People strip planes and melt aluminum parts to be sold on the black market.
U.S. Army soldiers remove the body of a killed comrade after an ambush outside the Iraqi town of Samarra, north of Baghdad, Tuesday, Dec 2, 2003. Insurgents ambushed a U.S. military convoy on the southern outskirts of Samarra, the site of weekend fighting between American soldiers and guerrillas, witnesses said. A roadside explosive was detonated under a U.S. military Humvee, which then collided with an Iraqi civilian vehicle.
Soldier of the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division (Task Force Ironhorse) waves as he leaves from a gate of the U.S. base for patrol in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, north of Baghdad, Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2003. On a gate is the inscription "Profesionalism Vigilance Pride and Lethality".
U.S. Army soldiers patrol the streets of a small village near the Southern Iraqi town of Nasiriyah, Monday, Dec. 1, 2003. U.S. forces repulsed two coordinated attacks by insurgents in Samarra on Sunday, killing 54 Iraqis in the bloodiest combat reported since the end of the war that ousted Saddam Hussein's regime.
U.S. Army soldiers of the 489th Civil Affairs drive in a convoy near the Iraqi town of Nasiriyah, Iraq, on Monday, Dec. 1, 2003. The military met Sheik Naeen, head of the local Al-Haarza tribe, to discuss the needs of this southern village.
A shop owner shows where a missile went through his shop during Sunday's gun battle in Samarra, some 60 miles north of Baghdad, on Monday, Dec. 1, 2003. The U.S. military said 54 Iraqis were killed in the northern city of Samarra as U.S. forces used tanks and cannons to fight their way out of simultaneous ambushes.
A downtown mosque in Samarra is refelcted in a mirror which took a bullet during Sunday's gun battle. The U.S. military said 54 Iraqis were killed in the northern city of Samarra as U.S. forces used tanks and cannons to fight their way out of simultaneous ambushes Sunday.
A wrecked bus is seen in Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad, early Monday, Dec. 1, 2003, after U.S. forces said they used battle tanks and cannons to fight their way out of two simaltaneous ambushes. Some 50 Iraqis were reportedly killed in the clashes, with five Americans injured.
A bullet-scarred building is photogtaphed in Samarra, Iraq, early Monday, Dec. 1, 2003, after U.S. forces said they used battle tanks and cannons to fight their way out of two simaltaeous ambushes.
A damaged car stands outside a shrine after the attack in Samarra, Iraq, early Monday, Dec. 1, 2003.
An Iraqi man named Mohammed mourns over the dead body of his 12-year-old brother Hamid Ali at the cemetery in Samarra, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 1, 2003. Ali was killed during fighting between U.S. Army forces and Iraqis in Samarra on Sunday.
Iraqis stand by a bus damaged in a gun battle in Samarra, Iraq, Monday, Dec. 1, 2003. The U.S. military said 54 Iraqis were killed in the northern city of Samarra as U.S. forces used tanks and cannons to fight their way out of simultaneous ambushes Sunday.