6-9-5
Twenty-two Iraqi soldiers have been kidnapped near Iraq's border with Syria, according to an Iraqi military source.
Four U.S. soldiers were killed during the past 24 hours in attacks north of Baghdad.
Yesterday, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, a senior Shiite leader demanded that the armed wing of his party play a greater role in the crack down on anti-government rebels, who have also singled out the country's majority Shiite community for attacks.
A group of unidentified gunmen kidnapped the soldiers, all Shiites, in Rawa, 250 kilometres (160 miles) west of the Iraqi capital, after they had left their base, an Iraqi military source said.
Iraq's defence and interior ministries could not confirm the report.
Rawa has seen several incidents of kidnapping and mass killing of Iraqi soldiers in the past.
Nearly three months ago, 30 bullet-riddled bodies of members of the security forces were found on the banks of the Euphrates near Qaim, in the restive province.
Washington has repetitively claimed that Syria wasn't doing enough to stop fighters from crossing its border with Iraq.
With the major offensive Operation Lightning in its third week, rebels seem to have shifted their attention north in a series of moving attacks from one area of the country to another.
49 Iraqis and four U.S. soldiers have been killed in attacks north of the capital since Tuesday.
On Wednesday, a U.S. soldier was killed when his patrol hit a roadside bomb near Ad-Dawr, the U.S. military said.
Two other U.S. soldiers were killed in Tikrit late Tuesday in an "indirect fire attack" on their base.
Another U.S. soldier was killed in a roadside bomb in Balad Tuesday.
Two guards of Kurdish deputy Fraidun Abdulqader were killed Wednesday in Baghdad's southern district of Dura.
Also on Wednesday, the U.S. Marines said they have detained 19 employees of a contract security firm, including 16 U.S. citizens, in the former rebel hotspot of Fallujah last month after they fired on US forces.
"Nineteen employees working for a contract security firm in Iraq were temporarily detained and questioned after firing on U.S. Marine positions in the city of Fallujah on Saturday, May 28," Lieutenant Colonel Dave Lapan said in a statement.
In Washington U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left the door open for Iraqi officials to negotiate with armed groups, saying that political reconciliation must be an Iraqi process.
"The Iraqis are trying to bring about a reconciliation of a society where societal tensions and ethnic differences were exploited by Saddam Hussein during the terrible reign that he engaged in," Rice said.
"And so there's an Iraqi process. And I don't think that we think it our place to interfere in that Iraqi process."
U.S. officials are currently negotiating with Sunni Arab leaders to include rebels in Iraq's political process, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday.
A statement issued by U.S. official's came after a Sunni Arab politician and a senior Shiite leader told reporters that they were holding talks with some armed groups linked to rebels, thought to include up to 20,000 fighters in their ranks.
"Some insurgents are irredeemable and have to be dealt with in a purely military way and there are some who are looking to enter the political process under some conditions," the official told a Baghdad briefing, given on condition of anonymity.
So far 1,680 U.S. military personnel have been killed in Iraq, since the war was launched in March 20, 2003.
Twenty-two Iraqi soldiers have been kidnapped near Iraq's border with Syria, according to an Iraqi military source.
Four U.S. soldiers were killed during the past 24 hours in attacks north of Baghdad.
Yesterday, Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, a senior Shiite leader demanded that the armed wing of his party play a greater role in the crack down on anti-government rebels, who have also singled out the country's majority Shiite community for attacks.
A group of unidentified gunmen kidnapped the soldiers, all Shiites, in Rawa, 250 kilometres (160 miles) west of the Iraqi capital, after they had left their base, an Iraqi military source said.
Iraq's defence and interior ministries could not confirm the report.
Rawa has seen several incidents of kidnapping and mass killing of Iraqi soldiers in the past.
Nearly three months ago, 30 bullet-riddled bodies of members of the security forces were found on the banks of the Euphrates near Qaim, in the restive province.
Washington has repetitively claimed that Syria wasn't doing enough to stop fighters from crossing its border with Iraq.
With the major offensive Operation Lightning in its third week, rebels seem to have shifted their attention north in a series of moving attacks from one area of the country to another.
49 Iraqis and four U.S. soldiers have been killed in attacks north of the capital since Tuesday.
On Wednesday, a U.S. soldier was killed when his patrol hit a roadside bomb near Ad-Dawr, the U.S. military said.
Two other U.S. soldiers were killed in Tikrit late Tuesday in an "indirect fire attack" on their base.
Another U.S. soldier was killed in a roadside bomb in Balad Tuesday.
Two guards of Kurdish deputy Fraidun Abdulqader were killed Wednesday in Baghdad's southern district of Dura.
Also on Wednesday, the U.S. Marines said they have detained 19 employees of a contract security firm, including 16 U.S. citizens, in the former rebel hotspot of Fallujah last month after they fired on US forces.
"Nineteen employees working for a contract security firm in Iraq were temporarily detained and questioned after firing on U.S. Marine positions in the city of Fallujah on Saturday, May 28," Lieutenant Colonel Dave Lapan said in a statement.
In Washington U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left the door open for Iraqi officials to negotiate with armed groups, saying that political reconciliation must be an Iraqi process.
"The Iraqis are trying to bring about a reconciliation of a society where societal tensions and ethnic differences were exploited by Saddam Hussein during the terrible reign that he engaged in," Rice said.
"And so there's an Iraqi process. And I don't think that we think it our place to interfere in that Iraqi process."
U.S. officials are currently negotiating with Sunni Arab leaders to include rebels in Iraq's political process, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday.
A statement issued by U.S. official's came after a Sunni Arab politician and a senior Shiite leader told reporters that they were holding talks with some armed groups linked to rebels, thought to include up to 20,000 fighters in their ranks.
"Some insurgents are irredeemable and have to be dealt with in a purely military way and there are some who are looking to enter the political process under some conditions," the official told a Baghdad briefing, given on condition of anonymity.
So far 1,680 U.S. military personnel have been killed in Iraq, since the war was launched in March 20, 2003.
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