Plan to End Iraq Militias Wins Support

Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, left, speaks at a joint press conference with his two Vice-Presidents Tariq al-Hashimi, second right, and Adil Abdul-Mahdi, right after a meeting Wednesday April 26, 2006 in Baghdad, Iraq. U.S. President George W. Bush's top two national security officials made a surprise visit to Iraq Wednesday, showing support for the emerging government as the top U.S. military commander there said some U.S. troops may be able to leave in the months ahead.(AP Photo/Mohammed Hato, Pool) (Mohammed Hato - AP)

In a briefing Thursday, however, U.S. spokesman Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch told reporters that "we are not seeing widespread militia operations across Iraq" and that "ethno-sectarian" attacks had dropped by half in Baghdad over the last week.

Lynch also said U.S. forces had found no "widespread movement" of Shiites and Sunnis away from religiously mixed areas, despite reports to the contrary by Iraqi officials.

"So we do not see us moving toward a civil war in Iraq," Lynch said. "In fact we see us moving away from it."

But there was little sign Thursday that the violence was nearing an end.

In Baghdad, gunmen firing from a speeding car assassinated Mayson al-Hashimi, sister of Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, as she left her home in a southwestern neighborhood, police said. Her bodyguard was also slain.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack. On Wednesday, however, Vice President al-Hashimi, a Sunni, joined Shiite and Kurdish leaders in calling for the use of force if necessary to crush the Sunni-led insurgency.

"We have to defend the future of our people," the vice president said at a news conference with President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, and his fellow vice president, Shiite Adil Abdul-Mahdi.

Two weeks ago, the vice president's brother, Mahmoud al-Hashimi, was shot and killed while driving in a mostly Shiite area of Baghdad. The brother of another leading Sunni politician, Saleh al-Mutlak, was found dead in Baghdad on April 17 after he was kidnapped. No arrests have been reported in either case.

The Italian and Romanian soldiers were killed near Nasiriyah, 200 miles southeast of Baghdad, when a bomb exploded near their four-vehicle convoy in a Shiite area. The death was Romania's first combat loss of the war.

The Italian news agency ANSA reported conflicting claims of responsibility by the Islamic Army in Iraq, a major insurgent group, and the lesser-known Imam Hussein Brigades.

In and around Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, Iraqi police and soldiers repelled a series of attacks Thursday by insurgents using mortar rounds, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire against five police checkpoints, a police station and an Iraqi army headquarters, Iraqi and U.S. officials said.

Seven Iraqi soldiers and 21 insurgents were killed, Iraqi Maj. Gen. Ahmed al-Awad said. He said 46 attackers were captured. U.S. officials said seven Iraqi soldiers and two civilians were killed and the wounded included 10 Iraqi soldiers, four policemen and four civilians. Authorities imposed a curfew, and residents said roads to Baghdad had been sealed off.

In Ramadi, 70 miles west of Baghdad, a U.S. jet fired two laser-guided missiles at buildings used by insurgents during a gunbattle with American soldiers, Lt. Col. Ronald Clark said.

He said there were no U.S. losses but that eight attackers were killed. Elsewhere in Ramadi, an Iraqi soldier was killed in a firefight with insurgents.