October U.S. Death Toll in Iraq Hits 100

An Iraqi man cries over his relative's body at Baghdad's al-Sadr hospital in Shiite enclave of Sadr City Monday, Oct. 30, 2006. A bomb tore through a collection of food stalls and kiosks Monday morning, killing at least 31 people and injuring more than 50 others. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim) (Karim Kadim - AP)

The U.S. military identified the latest casualty as a Marine assigned to Regimental Combat Team 5 who died in combat Sunday in Anbar province west of Baghdad, a hotbed of Sunni resistance to U.S. forces and their Iraqi government allies. The Marine's name was withheld pending notification of next of kin.

In Baghdad, the Iraqi woman claiming to be the missing soldier's mother-in-law said several of his in-laws put up a desperate struggle to stop the abduction.

The U.S. military has said the soldier was of Iraqi descent and that he was visiting family in the central Baghdad neighborhood of Karadah when he was abducted. It did not identify the soldier or give further details. The soldier's inlaws said his name is Ahmed Qusai al-Taayie.

The woman, who identified herself as Latifah Isfieh Nasser, told The Associated Press in the family home in Karadah that her daughter, 26-year-old physics student Israa Abdul-Satar, met her husband a year ago and the couple were married in August and spent their honeymoon in Egypt. She showed an AP reporter photographs of the couple in Cairo.

Since a brief lull during Muslim holy days last week, violence has rebounded sharply, marring U.S. efforts to bring Sunni insurgents into a reconciliation process.

Last week also saw an embarrassing public squabble between the U.S. and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki over a schedule for achieving breakthroughs in security and political goals.

Political tensions deepened further Sunday when Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi, the country's ranking Sunni politician, threatened to resign if al-Maliki did not move swiftly to eradicate militia groups.

Mohammed Shaker, a key aide to al-Hashemi, said the threat was intended to send a message to the government over the rising sectarian violence. "We cannot live with this situation indefinitely," he said.

Al-Maliki depends heavily on the backing of a pair of Shiite political organizations and has resisted American pressure to eradicate their private armies _ al-Sadr's Mahdi Army and the Badr Brigade, the military wing of Iraq's most powerful Shiite political bloc, the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq.

The gunmen, especially those of the Mahdi Army, have been deeply involved in months of sectarian killings in Baghdad and central Iraq.

The militias have also infiltrated the predominantly Shiite security forces, who suffered around 300 deaths during Ramadan, mainly at the hands of Sunni insurgents but also in fighting between police and militia fighters.

At least 26 policemen were killed Sunday. In one attack in Basra, gunmen dragged 15 policemen and two translators _ instructors at the Basra police academy _ off a bus at the edge of the city Sunday afternoon. Their bodies were found dumped throughout the city hours later.

Three other policemen were killed when a car bomb hit a patrol Sunday night in northeastern Baghdad's Bunook neighborhood, police Lt. Ahmed Mohammed Ali said.

On Monday, unknown gunmen killed Essam al-Rawi, head of the University Professor's Union and a senior member of the hardline Sunni group, the Association of Muslim Scholars. One of his bodyguards was also killed.

The association, which is believed to have links to the insurgency, has boycotted elections and other aspects of the political process that seeks to bring stability and end rampant sectarian violence.

At least 154 university professors have been killed since the March 2003 U.S. invasion, Education Ministry spokesman Basil al-Khatib said Monday. Hundreds, possibly thousands, more are believed to have fled to neighboring countries.

While sectarian hatred is blamed for some of those attacks, professors have also been killed because of past membership in Saddam Hussein's now-outlawed Baath Party, or by students angered over poor grades or with other grievances.