Associated Press
Thursday, July 5, 2007; A14

BAGHDAD, July 4 -- As U.S. troops in some bases marked the Fourth of July holiday, two Americans were reported killed in separate incidents, one when a helicopter went down in Nineveh province north of Baghdad and the second during combat operations in southern Baghdad.

A military statement said another soldier was wounded in the helicopter incident. It did not explain why the helicopter had gone down.

Also Wednesday, U.S. forces killed 10 people in a raid on a suspected hideout of the insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq in western Anbar province, the military said.

Meanwhile, attempts to pass a U.S.-backed oil law were snarled once more by deep differences among Iraq's Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish leaders, delaying parliamentary debate despite the prime minister's claims of a breakthrough.

Under heavy U.S. pressure, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has struggled for months to win approval of the law, part of a long-delayed package the Bush administration hopes will reconcile Iraq's Sunni Arab minority with the Shiite-led government, reduce support for the insurgency and ease the country's violence.

Parliament failed to start debate on the bill Wednesday, despite Maliki's announcement the day before that it would. The acting speaker, Khaled al-Attiya, said he expected it to be sent Thursday to the legislature, where it would be referred to a committee.

Maliki said Tuesday that his cabinet unanimously approved a draft measure, raising hopes that major progress had been made. Not addressed was the contentious issue of revenue-sharing among Shiites, Kurds and Sunnis. President Bush phoned the prime minister to thank him for pushing the bill.

But almost immediately, Sunni and Kurdish members of Maliki's coalition said they were not yet on board.