By Sewell Chan and Pamela Constable
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday, April 18, 2004; Page A20

BAGHDAD, April 17 -- The U.S. military abruptly closed parts of two major highways running north and south from the Iraqi capital early Saturday, attributing the shutdown to a spate of attacks and bombings by insurgents along the roads.

The closings highlighted the threat posed by bands of masked gunmen who have used roadside bombs, rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles to slow or halt the movement of military supplies, troops and ordinary traffic.

Meanwhile, outside the embattled western city of Fallujah, Iraqi negotiators reported significant progress in a second round of talks aimed at strengthening a week-old cease-fire and bringing a peaceful end to the bloody conflict between 3,500 Marines and an estimated 1,500 Iraqi guerrillas.

One soldier and two Iraqi insurgents were killed in fighting Friday night near the holy city of Najaf. About 2,500 soldiers have surrounded the city, where Moqtada Sadr, a radical cleric, is being protected by members of his militia.

U.S. military officials did not disclose the nationality of the soldier, although witnesses had reported the fighting involved Spanish troops.

One 1st Infantry Division soldier was killed and two were wounded Friday morning when their patrol hit an antitank mine near the northern town of Tikrit.

A military base camp near Baghdad International Airport was hit by 122-mm rockets Friday morning. Two Iraqi civilians were killed and four Iraqi civilians, two U.S. civilian contractors and one soldier were wounded.

On Saturday, insurgents released two Japanese civilians as Iraq's new interior minister, Samir Shakir Mahmoud Sumaidy, announced that he was creating an investigative unit to focus on politically motivated kidnappings. U.S. officials have estimated that 40 foreigners were taken hostage this month.

Military officials said the highways were closed because of security concerns and to repair damage from bombings.

"We've got to fix those roads, and we've also got to protect those roads," said Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq. "If you drive up and down the roads, you can see the amount of damage that has been done to those roads."

The closings took effect at 6 a.m. on parts of Highway 1 -- from Baghdad to a point about 45 miles northwest, near the town of Balad -- and on Highway 8 south from Baghdad to a town the military identified as Rakkab al Muktif. That town could not be located on major maps of Iraq.

In a brief e-mail sent at 2 a.m., the military announced that the affected sections would be closed indefinitely and warned motorists to avoid them.

"If civilians drive on the closed section of the highways, they may be engaged with deadly force," the announcement said. "Safety and security of public travel is the primary reason for closing these sections of highways."

Along with ambushes, kidnappings have also occurred along major highways just outside Baghdad. In an attack on April 9, insurgents raided an Army fuel-truck convoy near Abu Ghraib, a western suburb of Baghdad, using rocket-propelled grenades and assault rifles.

The guerrillas killed a U.S. soldier and an Iraqi driver and captured two soldiers and at least one contractor working for Kellogg Brown & Root, a subsidiary of Halliburton Co.

Insurgents released a video Friday night showing one of the two missing soldiers, Pfc. Keith M. Maupin of Batavia, Ohio, surrounded by six masked gunmen.

On the blurry video, Maupin, 20, said that although he had come to Iraq to help liberate it, he wanted to be home with his 10-month-old son. An insurgent said on the video that Maupin would be freed in exchange for the release of Iraqi detainees.

Officials declined Saturday to release information about Maupin or the other missing soldier, Sgt. Elmer C. Krause, 40, of Greensboro, N.C. Both soldiers are part of the Army Reserve's 724th Transportation Company, based in Bartonville, Ill.

Halliburton has reported that seven employees were missing after the attack, including Thomas Hamill, 43, of Macon, Miss. In a separate videotape made by an Australian news crew that was at the scene, Hamill was shown being driven away by insurgents. The other six contractors have not been accounted for.

Four mutilated bodies were found along the six-lane expressway near the ambush, but officials have not confirmed whether the corpses were those of the missing Americans.

A spokesman for L. Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of Iraq, said U.S. officials would not negotiate with the hostage-takers. "We are not going to negotiate with terrorists," said the spokesman, Daniel Senor. "Period. End of issue."

At a former Iraqi military base now occupied by the U.S. military, the Fallujah negotiations continued between a delegation of Iraqi officials and city leaders.

"I think we have made tremendous progress," said Hachem Hassani, a Sunni Muslim politician from Baghdad who is representing the Iraqi Governing Council at the talks. Representatives of two Sunni council members, Adnan Pachachi and Ghazi Yawar, also are participating, U.S. officials said.

In Fallujah, U.S. military officials reported that there was less fighting than at any time since they surrounded the city on April 5. "Last night was the quietest in a long time," said Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne, who commands a Marine battalion stationed in southeastern Fallujah.

Hassani and U.S. delegates at the talks said they discussed key issues raised at the first session Friday, including access to hospitals and arrangements for the Iraqi police and security officers to return to work and begin collecting weapons.

The Fallujah leaders insisted that U.S. forces assist residents in returning home as soon as possible, according to people who attended the meetings.

There were also discussions about how to bring to justice those responsible for the slaying and mutilation of four American security workers in Fallujah on March 31. Talks were to resume Tuesday.

Marine Maj. Gen. Joseph F. Weber, chief of staff for the U.S. military command in Iraq, said, "I can't stress how important it is for the cease-fire to hold up over the next 24 to 48 hours."

Senor, the spokesman for Bremer, questioned whether the local leaders hold sway with the guerrillas.

"Based on what the Fallujah leaders are saying, we are hopeful," Senor said. "We are hopeful about their intentions, but our overriding question is: Can they deliver? And if so, can they do so expeditiously? Time is running out."

Constable reported from Fallujah.