1 600 gefallene US-Soldaten im Iraq
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Sun Jan 15, 2006 4:20 AM ET
(Reuters) - Following are security incidents in Iraq reported on Sunday, January 15, as of 0830 GMT.
U.S. and Iraqi forces are battling a Sunni Arab insurgency against the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government in Baghdad.
MAHAWIL - A body, gagged and bound and shot dead, was found in Mahawil, 75 km (50 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
TUZ KHURMATU - Four policemen were seriously wounded when a makeshift bomb went off near their patrol in Tuz Khurmatu, north of Baghdad, the local authority said.
BALAD - An Iraqi soldier was killed and another wounded on Saturday when a roadside bomb went off near their patrol in the city of Balad, 90 km (55 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
BAIJI - Gunmen shot dead a police colonel on Saturday in the oil refinery city of Baiji, the local authorities said.
"I think the vast majority will be out by the end of the year and I'm hopeful it will be sooner than that," Murtha, the veteran U.S. congressman who urged the BUSH administration in November to set a withdrawal plan for the occupying forces in IRAQ, told the CBS "60 Minutes" show, according to excerpts of the interview released by the network.
Murtha further predicted that the U.S. President would be forced to accept an Iraq pullout plan as inaction will lead to the Republicans lose control of Congress in the November midterm elections.
"You're going to see a plan for withdrawal," he insisted.
Murtha believes the Congress will pass a plan calling for pullout of U.S. troops from IRAQ because of rising voter dissatisfaction with the deteriorating situation in the war-torn country.
"I think the political people who give advice will say to him, 'You don't want a Democratic Congress. You want to keep a Republican majority, and the only way you're going to keep it is by reducing substantially the troops in Iraq,'" Murtha said.
Last November, the first veteran of the Vietnam War elected to Congress, sparked controversy by demanding the U.S government to withdraw all American forces in IRAQ in six months, insisting the war was grounded in "a flawed policy wrapped in illusion."
At first the BUSH administration strongly rejected the congressman's demand and criticized it saying that it was tantamount to "surrender". But later it toned down its criticism, saying that the U.S. PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH just had an honest policy disagreement with him.
Ali al-Mashhadani, a television cameraman who was arrested in August, and Majed Hameed, a correspondent for Reuters and Arabiya television who was detained in September, are both based in Ramadi, one of the centres of a Sunni Arab insurgency.
They were freed from Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison after being held there and at Camp Bucca, a U.S. jail in southern Iraq.
At least three other Iraqi journalists for international media, including a freelance cameraman working for Reuters in the northern town of Tal Afar, remain in custody.
Reuters has urged the U.S. military also to free Samir Mohammed Noor, who has been held without charge since his arrest by Iraqi troops at his home in Tal Afar seven months ago. A cameraman for U.S. television network CBS in Mosul has been held since April.
"We are delighted that Ali and Majed are now free although we continue to have grave doubts about the way in which they were held for so long without charge," Reuters Global Managing Editor David Schlesinger said.
"We hope that Samir will also be able to rejoin his family soon."
Reuters and international media rights groups have repeatedly voiced concern at the long and unexplained detentions of journalists by U.S. troops.
They have in particular criticized the military's refusal to deal more quickly with suspicions apparently arising from reporters' legitimate activities in covering the insurgency.
More than 14,000 people, mostly Sunni Arabs, are held by the U.S. military on suspicion of taking part in Iraq's insurgency.
"Our lions in Mosul ... succeeded to shoot down a U.S. helicopter on Friday by targeting it with medium-sized weapons," said an Internet statement attributed to al Qaeda.
The statement's authenticity could not be verified. It was posted on a Web site often used by insurgents.
Al Qaeda in Iraq, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi -- Washington's most wanted man in the country -- often claims responsibility for major attacks on U.S. forces and Iraqi government troops.
Witnesses had reported seeing gunmen armed with heavy machineguns open fire on the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior, a two-seat, single-engine helicopter, in al-Sukar district north of Mosul, about 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad.
The U.S. military said the crash of the helicopter appeared to be due to hostile fire.
It was the second U.S. helicopter to crash in Iraq in less than a week. A military UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter crashed on Saturday, killing all 12 aboard in one of the worst incidents of its kind since the war began in 2003.
The U.S. military believes the Black Hawk may have been brought down by bad weather, but the cause is still under investigation.
Dozens of soldiers have been killed in helicopter crashes since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003, some in accidents and some after being fired on by insurgents with shoulder-fired missiles or small arms.
Saddams Richter resigniert
Saddam Husseins Richter hat die Konsequenz aus der Kritik an seiner Prozessführung gegen den früheren irakischen Diktator gezogen. Riskar Amin reichte seinen Rücktritt ein. Noch wird versucht, ihn umzustimmen.
REUTERS
Richter Amin: Massive Kritik an der Prozessführung
Bagdad - Amin habe sein Amt bereits kurz vor dem Beginn des islamischen Opferfestes am 10. Januar niedergelegt, hieß es aus irakischen Justizkreisen. Noch sei sein Rücktritt nicht angenommen worden. Es gebe Versuche, den kurdischstämmigen Juristen vom Verbleib auf seinem Posten zu überzeugen.
Amin reagierte mit seinem Rücktritt auf Vorwürfe von Politikern, die seine Prozessführung gegenüber Saddam Hussein als zu nachsichtig anprangerten. Vor allem am Verlauf der sechsten und siebten Sitzung des Tribunals Ende Dezember war scharfe Kritik geübt worden.
Damals war es zu zahlreichen Störungen und Zwischenfällen gekommen. Unter anderem hatte Saddam den US-Präsidenten George W. Bush und dessen Vater und Ex-Präsidenten George Bush attackiert. Außerdem lobte Saddam die Errungenschaften seiner Regierung und verurteilte die US-Besatzung des Irak, ohne dass das Gericht eingriff. Sein mitangeklagter Halbbruder Barsan el Tikriti griff Zeugen und Anklage massiv an. Der Entlassung Amins müssten laut den Statuten des Sondertribunals der irakische Strafgerichtshof und die Regierung zustimmen. Bei einer Ablehnung würde der Rücktritt aber nach einem Monat trotzdem in Kraft treten. Die nächste Sitzung in dem Verfahren ist für den 24. Januar angesetzt. Bei dem Prozess müssen sich Saddam und sieben weitere Angeklagte wegen eines Massakers an rund 150 Für den Prozessverlauf ist der Rücktritts Amins ein weiterer Rückschlag. Bislang wurden zwei Verteidiger getötet, ein Richter ist schon zurückgetreten.
A letter of resignation from Rizgar Amin had been received, the court official said. The head of the tribunal was studying the letter but has not decided whether to accept Amin's resignation.
Amin wants to remain a judge with the tribunal, according to the official, who did not say why Amin wants to step down as presiding judge.
Amin included in his letter an offer to stay on as chief judge through January 24, a week from Tuesday, the official said.
Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, a member of the defense team, has criticized the lack of protection for the Iraqi attorneys and their families.
Since the trial began in October, two defense attorneys were killed.
Amin's own security has been compromised -- he is the only judge whose name has been revealed. He has appeared on video of the proceedings in spite of the security risk.
By contrast, trial participants have refused to show their faces on video, fearing retribution attacks by Saddam loyalists.
The proceedings have not always gone smoothly. The combative Hussein has often interrupted it with outbursts, heated exchanges and posturing, causing observers in Iraq and across the globe to conclude he and his cohorts have too much free rein in the court.
Hussein and seven co-defendants face charges over the killings of more than 140 males in Dujail in 1982. The killings occurred after an assassination attempt on Hussein, Iraq's leader at the time.
Other developments
Violence struck Baghdad Saturday with the assassination of a Shiite imam; a roadside bomb that struck a police patrol, leaving 10 people wounded; and the discovery of three bodies in a drainage canal, police told CNN.
A Marine died in the Iraqi city of Ramadi of wounds received in combat Friday, the U.S. military said. The Marine was assigned to 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward). The death brings the number of U.S. troop deaths in the Iraq war to 2,215.
Die Bilder gingen um die Welt: Nach 21 Tagen Krieg kippt in Bagdad die Hussein-Statue. Während der Kopf durch die Straßen gezogen wurde, achtete keiner auf die Beine. Das linke blieb am Sockel hängen, galt später als verschollen. Jetzt ist es aufgetaucht: in einer Duisburger Garage. Ein Hobby-Antiquitätensammler bietet es im Internet an.
Irakische Regierung will Akte Saddam möglichst schnell geschlossen sehen.
Lange war darüber spekuliert worden, nun hat der Vorsitzende Richter im Prozess gegen den irakischen Ex-Diktator Saddam Hussein seinen Rücktritt tatsächlich eingereicht.
Riskar Mohammed Amin habe sein Amt bereits am 10. Jänner zur Verfügung gestellt, hieß es am Sonntag aus irakischen Justizkreisen.
Polit-Makel schwebt über Prozess
Die Aufregung ist groß - Amin wurden offenbar die unverhohlenen Versuche der politischen Einflussnahme auf den Prozessverlauf zu viel.
Ein Rücktritt Amins würde den Saddam-Prozess in schwere Turbulenzen stürzen. Denn auch wenn das Verfahren mit einem anderen Richter zu Ende geführt werden würde - der Makel eines politisch motivierten Urteils wäre wohl kaum noch beiseite zu wischen.
Wesentliches Ziel in Gefahr
Damit würde der Prozess aber eines seiner wesentlichen Ziele verfehlen: Neben der persönlichen Haftbarmachung des Ex-Diktators für von seinem Regime begangene Untaten, sollte der Prozess auch ein Symbol für den demokratischen Neustart im Irak sein.
Internationale Organisationen hatten wiederholt gefordert, einen internationalen Gerichtshof mit der juristischen Aufarbeitung der Verbrechen des Saddam-Regimes zu beauftragen. Nur so könne ein faires Verfahren garantiert werden. Das war jedoch von den USA wie dem Irak selbst abgelehnt worden.
Kritik an "nachsichtiger" Prozessführung
Der kurdisch-stämmige Jurist reagiere mit dem Schritt auf andauernde Kritik von politischer Seite, die seine Prozessführung gegenüber dem Ex-Präsidenten mehrfach als zu "nachsichtig" bezeichnet hatte.
Amin war bisher Vorsitzender des fünfköpfigen Richtersenats im derzeitigen Verfahren gegen Saddam wegen der Ermordung von mehr als 140 Schiiten in der Stadt Duschail im Jahre 1982.
Hoffen auf Umdenken
Der Rücktritt sei bisher allerdings nicht angenommen worden. Derzeit liefen Versuche, den Juristen vom Verbleib auf seinem Posten zu überzeugen, heißt es aus Bagdad.
"Vielleicht überdenkt Riskar (Amin) seine Entscheidung noch einmal und alles bleibt, wie es ist", so ein Angehöriger des Richtersenats.
"Keine Verzögerungen"
Während Beobachter weitere Verzögerungen in dem Prozess erwarten, sollte der Vorsitzende Richter sein Amt zurücklegen, beruhigt der oberste Ankläger im Saddam-Prozess.
Das Verfahren würde durch Amins Rücktritt nicht beeinträchtigt, ist sich Staatsanwalt Dschafar el Musawi sicher. "Es gibt Ersatz. Kein Rücktritt irgendeines Richters würde den Prozess behindern."
Bereits ein Richter zurückgetreten
Amin wäre bereits der zweite Richter, der im Saddam-Prozess das Handtuch wirft. Einer war zuvor bereits im November zurückgetreten.
Gleichfalls legten zwei Verteidiger ihre Funktion zurück, ein weiterer floh ins Ausland.
Kritik an Saddams Auftritten
Aber nicht nur von politischer Seite, auch in den Medien war zuletzt mehrfach Kritik an der Prozessführung laut geworden.
Der Vorsitzende hätte den bisher dreimonatigen Prozessverlauf mehrfach entgleiten lassen, hieß es. Saddam wäre während des Verfahrens zu viel Bühne geboten worden.
Besonders während der letzten Prozessrunde im Dezember war es zu mehreren Zwischenfällen gekommen.
Saddam attackiert Bush
Unter anderem hatte Saddam Hussein den US-Präsidenten George W. Bush und dessen Vater und Ex-Präsidenten George Bush angegriffen.
Der Ex-Diktator lobte außerdem die Errungenschaften seiner Regierung und verurteilte die US-Besatzung des Irak. Er behauptete auch, gefoltert worden zu sein.
Sein ebenfalls angeklagter Halbbruder, Barsan el Tikriti, griff Zeugen und Anklage in scharfen Worten an, Saddam sogar den Vorsitzenden Richter: Wenn die Revolution des heroischen Iraks kommt, werden Sie zur Verantwortung gezogen werden", erklärte er in Richtung Amin.
Regierung will schnellen Prozess
Weniger Geduld als offenbar der Vorsitzende des Richtersenats, zeigt die irakische Regierung mit dem Verfahren - und hatte das auch mehrfach klargemacht.
Der nationale Sicherheitsberater des Irak, Muwaffak el Rubai, hatte bereits kurz nach Prozessbeginn im Oktober erklärt, dass die Regierung die Akte Saddam so schnell wie möglich geschlossen sehen will.
"Neues Kapitel aufschlagen"
El Rubai schlug sogar vor, nur über einen Anklagepunkt - statt insgesamt zwölf - gegen Saddam zu verhandeln. Er wolle nicht, dass sich die Iraker dadurch unnötig lange mit der dunklen Vergangenheit des Landes befassen müssen. Es sei ausreichend, wenn der ehemalige Machthaber nur wegen eines Verbrechens verurteilt werde.
Der Prozess müsse zügig fortgesetzt werden, "damit die Iraker ein neues Kapitel aufschlagen können".
Der Prozess soll am 24. Jänner fortgesetzt werden. Im Falle einer Verurteilung droht Saddam Hussein die Todesstrafe.
They said they saw a rocket hit the helicopter in an area where the small town of Mishahda is situated.
There was no immediate word on the fate of the crew, and the U.S. military said it was checking the incident.
One witness said U.S. troops surrounded the crash site and that smoke was rising from the area.
A court trying Saddam Hussein appointed a replacement for the chief judge, throwing into further disarray a trial that Iraqi officials had hoped would help undermine an insurgency led by the former president's supporters.
Footage broadcast on Arabic television of a guided surface-to-air missile slamming into the aircraft reinforced expectations that rebels would escalate attacks when the results of Iraq's December 15 parliamentary election are confirmed.
The U.S. military earlier confirmed a helicopter had come down but said it was still investigating the cause. A military spokesman had no comment on the fate of the crew.
Local witnesses said the aircraft crashed after coming under missile fire in the small town of Mishahda.
U.S. commanders have said violence may increase once last month's election results are announced, probably this week.
Gunmen killed five policemen and one child in the town of Miqdadia north of Baghdad on Monday, and in a common rebel tactic, a car bomb exploded when reinforcements arrived, police said. Those attacks also wounded 18 people.
An al Qaeda-led group and two less well-known Iraqi insurgent organizations issued separate claims for the downing of the helicopter, according to Web postings.
ELECTION RESULTS ANNULLED
Iraq's Electoral Commission annulled results from 227 ballot boxes, upholding complaints of irregularities in the December 15 election, but said this would have little effect on results already announced.
Final results, based on tallies from some 31,000 ballot boxes, will be published on Friday, Electoral Commissioner Adel al-Lamy told Reuters, saying these would be in line with partial, provisional counts given some weeks ago. Continued ...
Der vorsitzende Richter im Prozess gegen Saddam Hussein wird nach seinem Rücktrittsgesuch zumindest den kommenden Prozesstag am 24. Jänner nicht leiten. Zu den Berichten, der Richter werfe das Handtuch, hieß es, er werde vorerst "vertreten".
Für Risgar Amin werde zunächst sein Stellvertreter Sajid el Hamaschi einspringen, sagte Chefankläger Dschaafar el Mussawi heute. Die Regierung habe aber noch nicht endgültig entschieden, ob sie das Rücktrittsgesuch annehme.
Pokert Richter lediglich?
Der Kurde Amin selbst hat sich bisher nicht öffentlich geäußert. In seinem Umfeld hatte es aber geheißen, er reagiere mit seinem Rücktrittsgesuch auf Kritik der Regierung, die ihm eine zu weiche Verhandlungsführung vorwerfe.
Dabei blieb unklar, ob Amin sein Amt tatsächlich aufgeben oder mehr Freiheiten für eine unabhängigere Prozessführung erreichen will. Heute liefen nach Angaben eines Gerichtssprechers die Bemühungen weiter, Amin zum Weitermachen zu bewegen.
Vorwürfe zu Verhandlungsführer
Aus dem Umfeld Amins hatte es geheißen, die Regierung habe sich beschwert, dass er Hussein und seine Mitangeklagten zu nachsichtig behandelt habe. Amin hatte bereits im vergangenen Monat Kritik an seiner Prozessführung zurückgewiesen und erklärt, die Verteidigung habe das Recht auf eine faire Anhörung.
In dem Prozess sind Hussein und sieben Mitangeklagte wegen Kriegsverbrechen und Verbrechen gegen die Menschlichkeit angeklagt. Ihnen droht die Todesstrafe.
Die Iraker seien am Samstag nach einem Vorfall im Golf in Gewahrsam genommen worden, sagte eine Sprecherin des Büros des irakischen Ministerpräsidenten am Dienstag in Bagdad. An dem Vorfall sei auch ein Schiff beteiligt gewesen, das des Ölschmuggels verdächtigt worden sei.
"Acht Männer unserer Küstenwache und ein Offizier sind von der iranischen Küstenwache gefangen genommen worden", erklärte die Sprecherin. Den Bericht eines arabischen Fernsehsenders, wonach ein Iraker bei dem Vorfall getötet worden sei, könne sie nicht bestätigen.
Zwischen dem Irak und dem Iran gibt es aus der Vergangenheit eine lange Liste von Streitigkeiten an deren Küsten am Golf.
The disagreement is likely to further dent public confidence in the trial, already damaged by Amin's complaints about government pressure on him to be firmer in his handling of Saddam and to speed up proceedings in the U.S.-sponsored court.
The administration of the Iraqi High Tribunal wants Sayeed al-Hamashi, the most senior of Amin's four colleagues on the panel trying Saddam, to be appointed as his replacement, the tribunal source told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Hamashi has already been chosen to temporarily preside over the trial when it resumes in Baghdad on January 24 after Amin refused to withdraw his resignation on Monday.
"The administration is now insisting on appointing Hamashi permanently," the source said.
But some of the judges have complained that the administration, the body that manages the tribunal independently of government, has no right to appoint Hamashi and that the statutes governing the tribunal make clear that a new chief judge must be elected by the judges, not appointed.
Fourteen of the 15 judges who make up the tribunal's three trial chambers held talks for several hours at their offices in Baghdad on Tuesday, the source said. Amin did not attend the talks.
"There is a serious controversy going on in the tribunal. They are discussing the legality of appointing Hamashi permanently," the source said.
"Some are unhappy because this step is contradictory to the law of the tribunal, which spells out that an alternate judge should be elected, not appointed."
He could not say how many of the 14 judges were raising objections but said they would meet again on Wednesday, when a statement could be issued.
Hamashi is the only other judge to have been seen alongside Amin in television coverage of the trial. Continued ...
Selbstmordanschlag fordert sechs Tote
Bagdad/Kairo - Ein Selbstmordattentäter hat am Montag an einer Straßensperre der Polizei im Irak vier Polizisten und ein Kind mit in den Tod gerissen. Nach Angaben der US-Armee lieferten sich Extremisten in Makdadija, nördlich von Bagdad, zuerst eine Schießerei mit der Polizei. Dann brachte der Attentäter seine Autobombe zur Explosion. 16 Zivilisten und zwei Polizisten wurden nach Armeeangaben bei der Attacke verletzt.
Das US-Militär bestätigte außerdem den Tod von zwei amerikanischen Soldaten, deren Hubschrauber am Montag in der Nähe von Tadschi abgestürzt war. Ob der Helikopter von Aufständischen abgeschossen wurde, blieb unklar. Die Amerikaner erklärten allerdings, das Sumpfgebiet im Norden von Bagdad, in dem der Armeehelikopter abstürzte, sei "für Terroraktivitäten bekannt".
Saddam-Prozess könnte verlegt werden
Der irakische Präsident Dschalal Talabani hat heute eine Verlegung des Saddam-Prozesses in den kurdischen Teil des Landes vorgeschlagen.
"Wenn es Richter gibt, die sich künftig in Gefahr wähnen, dann sind wir bereit, sie nach Kurdistan zu bringen und dort wären sie sicher und gut bewacht", sagte Talabani der Nachrichtenagentur Reuters.
Turbulenzen nach Richter-Rücktritt
Der Prozess gegen den früheren irakischen Präsidenten Saddam Hussein war nach dem Rücktritt des Vorsitzenden Richters in weitere Turbulenzen geraten.
Rizgar Amin hatte seinen Rücktritt von der Leitung des Sondertribunals eingereicht und damit Justizkreisen zufolge gegen Vorwürfe einer zu weichen Verhandlungsführung protestiert. Heute sei immer noch versucht worden, Amin seine Entscheidung auszureden, hieß es in den Kreisen.
Prozess noch unglaubwürdiger?
Eine Verlegung des Verhandlungsortes aus der von Gewalt erschütterten, aber politisch neutralen Hauptstadt Bagdad in das Kurdengebiet scheint unwahrscheinlich. Die Kurden zählen sich selbst zu den größten Opfern der Saddam-Herrschaft und sind dem ehemaligen Präsidenten größtenteils feindlich gesinnt. Die Glaubwürdigkeit des Prozesses könnte dadurch weiteren Schaden nehmen.
Menschenrechtsgruppen hatten bereits die Fähigkeit des Irak in Frage gestellt, trotz der im Land tobenden ethnischen und konfessionsgebundenen Konflikte ein faires Verfahren zu garantieren. Sie forderten von der irakischen Regierung und den USA, den Prozess vor einem internationalen Gericht im Ausland zu führen.
The station aired a brief video apparently showing Carroll speaking to the camera, without broadcasting her voice.
SULAIMANIYA, Iraq (Reuters) - Health officials in northern Iraq have sent samples to Jordan for testing for the bird flu virus H5N1 after a 14-year-old girl died in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniya, officials said on Wednesday.
Tijan Abdel-Qader died on arrival at the main hospital on Tuesday after falling ill 15 days earlier in her home town of Raniya, in Kurdistan close to the Turkish and Iranian borders, Kurdish regional health minister Mohammed Khashnow said.
"The doctors in Sulaimaniya suspected this might be a case (of bird flu)," he told Reuters. "They have sent samples to Amman and we will know the results next week."
Raniya is close to Lake Dukan, which draws many migratory birds to the region and where Iraqi officials had been taking measures to try to prevent domestic fowl from being infected.
"The rest of the family is in good health," Khashnow added, saying the family was not in the poultry business.
An Iraqi Health Ministry spokesman confirmed the suspected case and a senior central government health official in Baghdad confirmed a team had been dispatched to investigate.
"We were informed about it yesterday at noon (0900 GMT). We sent a team this morning to check it out. We're expecting to hear from them this afternoon with an initial report," said Abdul Jalil Hassan, the head of a government committee set up to monitor the threat after people died in neighboring Turkey.
"They will take samples and should have an idea of whether it is the bird flu virus by this afternoon," he told Reuters.
"We are not aware of any other cases in Iraq."
Raniya lies north of Lake Dukan, about 20 km (12 miles) west of the Iranian border, near the Iranian city of Piranshahr. It is about 100 km (60 miles) south of the Turkish border.
Hassan said measures had been taken around the lake to keep domestic poultry away from wild birds arriving along winter migration routes from the north.
In Zakho, an Iraqi Kurdish frontier city a few kilometers (miles) from both the Turkish and Syrian borders, all poultry were being slaughtered and burned, a Kurdish regional government official said.
The station aired a brief video apparently showing Carroll speaking to the camera, without broadcasting her voice. It did not say which group had claimed her kidnapping.
Carroll, 28, working for The Christian Science Monitor, was abducted earlier this month by unknown kidnappers who killed her Iraqi interpreter.
In the United States, Carroll's family appealed to the hostage-takers to show mercy, pleading for her safe return just hours after the video was aired.
"Jill is an innocent journalist and we respectfully ask that you please show her mercy and allow her to return home to her mother, sister and family," the statement issued by Jim, Mary Beth, and Katie Carroll said.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said: "We will make every effort to work with the Iraqis to bring her back safe and sound as soon as possible."
He said he did not know if it was Carroll in the video.
Christian Science Monitor editor Richard Bergenheim released a statement on Tuesday calling for her release:
"Jill Carroll's colleagues ... and journalists around the world appeal to her captors to release her immediately and without harm. They have seized an innocent person who is a great admirer of the Iraqi people," Bergenheim wrote.
"She is a professional journalist whose only goal has been to report truthfully about Iraq and to promote understanding."
The State Department's McCormack declined further comment, and refused to say whether the United States would consider meeting the demands aired in the broadcast.
She had been on her way to meet Adnan al-Dulaimi, a Sunni Arab leader whom she had intended to interview, the newspaper had said. Continued ...
By SAMEER N. YACOUB
Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Police said gunmen killed at least 10 security guards and seized an African engineer in an ambush Wednesday in Baghdad. Iraqi authorities, meanwhile, held out hope that a kidnapped American reporter would be released.
The guards were killed when their convoy was attacked by heavily armed insurgents in Baghdad's dangerous western Jami'a district, said Capt. Qassim Hussein. He said another security worker and a civilian were also wounded.
An engineer from Malawi, who was working for the mobile telephone company Iraqna, was abducted during the attack, said a police official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to talk to media.
Earlier Wednesday, two Iraqi journalists were wounded in the same area by gunmen who fired shots at them from a passing car as they drove to work at the al-Iraq newspaper, Hussein added. The reporters were hospitalized.
The bodies of three men, including a relative of Iraq's defense minister, were also found Wednesday with gunshot wounds to the head in a Baghdad apartment, a police official said.
Sadad al-Batah, a Sunni Arab tribal leader related to Defense Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi, was killed along with his nephew and a third person, who was identified as an Iraqi army officer, said the official, who declined to be identified because of security reasons.
Elsewhere, Iraqi doctors were investigating if a 15-year-old girl who recently died from a lung infection was infected with bird flu, a Health Ministry official said Wednesday.
The girl's family apparently kept chickens in their house in the northeast Iraqi city of Sulaimaniyah, and some of those birds also died, said Dr. Abdul Jalil Naji, who heads the ministry's bird flu office.
Hooper says Carroll should be freed immediately.
A health official in Sulaimaniyah, Sherko Abdellah, said an initial autopsy found no evidence of bird flu in the girl but blood samples have been sent to Jordan for more tests. Officials were also on the way to Sulaimaniyah to investigate.
Turkey, which borders Iraq to the north, is battling an outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, with 21 confirmed human cases. Sulaimaniyah is more than 120 miles from the Turkish border.
The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization has warned that bird flu might already have spread from Turkey to neighboring countries, including Iraq. There have been no confirmed human cases so far in Iraq.
Police are also working to secure the release of kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll, who was seen in a tape aired on an Arab TV station late Tuesday for the first time since her Jan. 7 abduction in Baghdad.
Al-Jazeera said the tape, a silent 20-second video showing Carroll appearing pale and tired, also included a threat to kill the 28-year-old freelance writer in 72 hours if U.S. authorities didn't release all Iraqi women in military custody.
U.S. military spokeswoman Sgt. Stacy Simon said eight Iraqi women are currently detained, but provided no further details.
Carroll, working for the Christian Science Monitor newspaper, was abducted in one of Baghdad's most dangerous neighborhoods as she was being driven to meet a Sunni Arab politician, who failed to appear for the interview. Carroll's translator was killed.
On the tape, Carroll is wearing a white-colored pullover, while her long, straight, brown hair is parted in the middle and pulled back from her face as she speaks into the camera. Al-Jazeera would not tell The Associated Press how it received the tape, but the station issued its own statement calling for Carroll's release.
A still photograph of Carroll from the videotape appeared on Al-Jazeera's Web site carrying a logo reading "The Revenge Brigade," a group that was not previously known from other claims of responsibility of violence in Iraq.
The U.S. Embassy said a joint American-Iraqi investigation is underway to try find Carroll.
"Efforts are continuing to find the American journalist," said Gen. Hussein Kamal, the deputy interior minister in charge of domestic intelligence. "We cannot say more because of the sensitivity of the matter, but God willing the end will be positive."
The Christian Science Monitor said Carroll arrived in Iraq in 2003 and began filing stories for the newspaper early last year.
The paper released a statement from her family pleading with her captors to set her free.
"Jill is a friend and sister to many Iraqis and has been dedicated to bringing the truth of the Iraq war to the world," it said. "We appeal for the speedy and safe return of our beloved daughter and sister."
"We have eight females. They are being held for the same reasons as the others, namely that they are a threat to security," said Lieutenant Aaron Henninger, a spokesman for the U.S. military detentions operation. Some 14,000 men are held at Abu Ghraib and other jails on suspicion of insurgent activity.
Arabic television station Al Jazeera aired a brief video on Tuesday night showing Jill Carroll, 28, a freelance journalist working for the Christian Science Monitor.
It was the first glimpse of Carroll since gunmen kidnapped her in a Baghdad street on January 7 and killed her translator. The video showed Carroll speaking to the camera, although her voice was not broadcast.
A still photograph of Carroll from the videotape appeared on Al Jazeera's Web site carrying a logo reading the "Revenge Brigades", a similar name to a group that kidnapped an Iraqi- Swedish Christian politician in January 2005. He was released unharmed after being threatened with beheading.
An Iraqi Justice Ministry official said there were a number of women among about 7,000 people being held in civilian Iraqi jails under its control, although he did not have an exact figure. All had been convicted of common crimes.
It is not the first time that kidnappers of Western hostages have demanded the release of women prisoners.
In October 2004, three engineers, two Americans and a Briton, were beheaded after being abducted in Baghdad by al Qaeda militants who demanded the release of women prisoners.
Washington said at the time it held only two women in Iraq, both top weapons scientists under Saddam Hussein.
The two, Rihab Taha and Huda Ammash -- "Dr Germ" and "Mrs Anthrax" to the Western media -- were among eight former senior figures under Saddam freed last month.
bei den Reden von Georg Bush hört sich das alles immer so anders an...wär da wohl richtig liegt?
CNN) -- After a year of arduous political spadework by Iraqis trying to establish a democracy, a major humanitarian watchdog group has said "the human rights situation in Iraq deteriorated significantly in 2005."
Human Rights Watch made the assessment Wednesday in a report titled "Human Rights Watch World Report 2006," a global survey of the state of human rights.
The U.S.-led coalition has touted a year of political progress in Iraq, as Iraqis numbering in the millions went to the polls to vote for a transitional parliament, a four-year parliament and a constitution.
The United States has also touted its efforts to fight and arrest insurgents and train competent Iraqi security forces.
One of the realities stemming from the report is that violence -- deadly, dramatic suicide bombings and daily insurgent ambushes and roadside bombings -- has taken a toll on living conditions, as well as claiming many lives.
"Efforts to boost economic reconstruction and the rebuilding of Iraq's devastated infrastructure continue to be hampered by general instability in the country and the level of violence caused by insurgency and counterinsurgency attacks," the report said.
The report cited:
A rise in insurgent armed attacks, "including the deliberate targeting of civilians and violent attacks such as suicide bombings."
A "high" level of abductions of Iraqis. The number of foreign nationals abducted "has decreased," a trend that parallels the "departure of foreign personnel" employed there.
U.S. and Iraqi counterinsurgency operations resulting "in the killing of civilians in violation of the laws of armed conflict."
An "absence of basic precautions by the U.S. military to protect civilians, including at checkpoints, brought to the fore by the killing of an Italian intelligence officer in March 2005."
"Evidence of the torture and other mistreatment of detainees held in the custody of U.S. forces in 2003 and 2004 has continued to emerge in the wake of the Abu Ghraib revelations in April 2004."
Doubts about the ability of the Iraqi High Tribunal trying Saddam Hussein and others from his regime to hold a fair proceeding.
The report cited al Qaeda in Iraq, Ansar al-Sunna and the Islamic Army in Iraq as targeting "civilians for abductions and executions."
"The first two groups have repeatedly boasted about massive car bombs and suicide bombs in mosques, markets, bus stations and other civilian areas," it said.
Citizens regarded as collaborators have been targeted for killings.
"The victims of targeted assassination by insurgent groups include government officials, politicians, judges, journalists, humanitarian aid workers, doctors, professors and those deemed to be collaborating with the foreign forces in Iraq, including translators, cleaners and others who perform civilian jobs for the U.S.-led Multi-National Force in Iraq," the report said.
"Insurgents have directed suicide and car bomb attacks at Shia mosques, Christian churches and Kurdish political parties with the purpose of killing civilians. Claims that these communities are legitimate targets because they may support the foreign forces in Iraq have no basis in international law, which requires the protection of any civilian who is not actively participating in the hostilities."
The report said "the vast majority" of allegations of detainee abuse involve Interior Ministry forces and members of the "armed forces" under the Defense Ministry.
"Detainees in pretrial detention on security-related offenses, in particular, are subjected to various forms of torture or ill-treatment, including routine beatings, sleep deprivation, electric shocks to sensitive parts of the body, prolonged suspension from the wrists with the hands tied behind the back, deprivation of food and water for prolonged periods, and severely overcrowded cells.
"Former detainees held by Ministry of Interior forces in connection with alleged terrorist offenses linked to insurgent activity report other forms of torture, including having weights attached to their testicles, or having a string tied tightly round their penis and then being forced to drink large amounts of water."