BAGHDAD, 26 July 2004 — US-backed forces killed 15 Iraqis in a blistering shootout north of Baghdad yesterday as a hostage crisis deepened and a threatened deadline to kill one of seven captive truckers drew near.
The main hospital in Baqubah said it received one body and nine wounded from the clashes near Buhruz, just south of the city.
The US military said insurgents opened fire on Iraqi security forces as they provided security for the 1st Infantry Division during a raid in a nearby farming area.
“Iraqi security forces pursued the anti-Iraqi forces into town while being attacked by sporadic small arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades,” said Maj. Neal O’Brien.
US forces provided air and ground support as Iraqi forces battled the insurgents, who “fired mortars indiscriminately” into the town, he said.
The firefight left palm and pomegranate groves smoldering. A body, said to be that of a civilian, was buried as masked men carried machine guns and RPGs, shouting anti-Iraqi government and anti-US slogans.
The bloodshed came hours after the US military arrested 15 people near Baqubah at dawn on suspicion of ties to alleged Al-Qaeda operative Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi.
Faced with Iraq’s perilous hostage crisis, the Egyptian Embassy said a tribal sheikh had offered to mediate to secure the release of a truck driver taken hostage along with three Indian and three Kenyan colleagues on Wednesday.
The kidnappers of the seven have mandated “Sheikh Hisham Al-Dulaimi to negotiate on its behalf with the Kuwaiti company and with the embassies of the countries to which the seven belong,” Al-Arabiya television reported.
“We have heard about it from our sources... but he has not contacted us yet,” said Baddreldin El-Desouki, first secretary at the embassy.
But both the Indian and Pakistani embassies were unaware of the offer, as the interim Iraqi government strongly opposed efforts to pander to the demands of kidnappers.
“The Iraqi government doesn’t function like that. We have not been negotiating with anyone. Neither has anyone approached us,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Sabah Kahdim.
Neither was it clear whether Dulaimi would also work to secure the release of Egyptian diplomat, Mohamed Mamdouh Qutb, snatched two days ago.
The truckers’ captors have set today’s deadline to kill their first victim unless their Kuwaiti employer quits Iraq, prisoners are freed and damages paid to victims of violence in the insurgent bastion of Fallujah, west of Baghdad.
The deadline had originally been set for Saturday, but a 48-hour extension was announced by the “Holders of the Black Banners” on Al-Jazeera late Friday.
As the expiry time neared, New Delhi called on the kidnappers to follow the teachings of Islam and release the three Indians.
Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has pressed Egypt not to cave in to the kidnappers’ demands, like Manila, which withdrew troops from Iraq earlier than planned in exchange for the freedom of a Philippine hostage.
Allawi was yesterday trying to boost security coordination and settle debt rows in Beirut, a day after agreeing with Iraq’s former arch-foe Syria to cooperate on border security.
Iraqi officials were also investigating the reported disappearance of two Pakistanis who vanished on Friday.
Islamabad had said the two were believed to have been kidnapped. The men, working for a Kuwaiti company, were identified as Raja Azad, a maintenance engineer, and Sajjad Naeem, a driver.
— Additional input from agencies
