Thursday, November 04, 2004
." Iraqis Turn Blind Eye to U.S. Vote Amid New ViolenceWed Nov 3, 2004 07:32 AM ET
By Alistair Lyon
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqis traumatized by violence largely ignored the U.S. presidential election Wednesday as rebels mounted fresh attacks and kidnappers seized a U.S.-Lebanese contractor and four Jordanian drivers.
While President Bush's campaign declared victory over Democratic challenger John Kerry, many Iraqis kept their television sets tuned to Ramadan religious programs.
"Will Kerry turn occupation into liberation? No. Has Bush kept his promises? No. Whoever wins we will be at their mercy," said Raad Fadel, selling musical instruments in Baghdad.
In an Internet video, Bush's deadliest Islamist enemy Osama bin Laden said the U.S. president had dragged his country into a quagmire in Iraq and warned for the first time of retaliation for Iraqi deaths.
Gunmen killed an Oil Ministry official in the Iraqi capital and a car bomb blew up near a U.S. convoy on the airport road, killing an Iraqi security man, but causing no U.S. casualties.
U.S. Marines watched television coverage of the Bush-Kerry contest at a base near Falluja, west of Baghdad.
"A Bush win would mean we would stay the course in Iraq. A Kerry win means we would probably leave before the job is done," said 1st Lieutenant Tony King, 33.
First Lieutenant Sara Hope, 24, had only one thought in mind: "I am leaving in March no matter who wins."
BIN LADEN THREAT
In a full Internet broadcast of a video partly aired by Al Jazeera television last week bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader, said Bush had launched "an unjustified war on Iraq" against advice.
"Bush's hands are sullied with the blood of those on both sides just for oil and to employ his private companies," he said. "Remember that for every action, there is a reaction."
In Baghdad, four gunmen seized Radim Sadiq, a U.S. national of Lebanese origin, from his Lebanese company's office in the Mansour district late Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said.
An American, a Filipino and a Nepali were kidnapped on Monday when gunmen stormed a Saudi company villa in Mansour.
Insurgents seized four Jordanian drivers on a highway in western Iraq Tuesday, a Foreign Ministry official in Amman said. Relatives said the men were taking goods to U.S. bases.
The Care International charity that employs British-Iraqi captive Margaret Hassan said it was distressed by the latest video issued by her kidnappers and urged them to free her.
The tape showed Hassan -- seized by unidentified kidnappers in Baghdad on Oct. 19 -- fainting on camera with water thrown at her to revive her, a witness who saw the tape told Reuters.
"She was making a very, very emotional plea. She appeared distressed and suddenly fainted on camera. Water was tossed on her," said the witness who asked not to be identified.
Al Jazeera television aired another part of the video that showed a masked gunman speaking, but there was no audio.
Hassan's unidentified captors threatened to turn her over to a group led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi within 48 hours unless British troops quit Iraq, Al Jazeera said.
Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for hostage beheadings and some of Iraq's bloodiest suicide attacks.
BEHEADING
A militant group said it beheaded a man it called a senior member of Iraq's armed forces in the northern city of Mosul and posted a video of the killing on its Web site.
The Army of Ansar al-Sunna accused the officer, Major Hussein Shunun, of helping U.S. forces against insurgents.
The same group has claimed responsibility for killing many hostages, including 11 Iraqis it said were National Guard members, 12 Nepalese men and several Iraqi Kurds.
An Interior Ministry spokesman said gunmen had killed Hussein Ali, director-general of state-owned Refined Oil Products distribution company, as he left his home in Baghdad.
Guerrillas have killed scores of Iraqi officials to try to undermine Iraq's U.S.-backed interim government.
The car bomb on the airport road set a U.S. Humvee on fire, witnesses said. Reuters photographs show U.S. troops taking a corpse in a body bag to a military ambulance. A U.S. spokesman said later the body was that of an Iraqi security man.
Attacks and kidnappings have intensified as Marines step up pressure on Falluja and Ramadi before an expected offensive to retake rebel cities to enable elections to go ahead in January.
U.S. planes bombed targets in Falluja overnight, destroying an arms cache and an insurgent command post, the military said.
No Iraqi oil was flowing from a northern pipeline to Turkey after this week's sabotage attacks, shipping sources said.
By Alistair Lyon
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqis traumatized by violence largely ignored the U.S. presidential election Wednesday as rebels mounted fresh attacks and kidnappers seized a U.S.-Lebanese contractor and four Jordanian drivers.
While President Bush's campaign declared victory over Democratic challenger John Kerry, many Iraqis kept their television sets tuned to Ramadan religious programs.
"Will Kerry turn occupation into liberation? No. Has Bush kept his promises? No. Whoever wins we will be at their mercy," said Raad Fadel, selling musical instruments in Baghdad.
In an Internet video, Bush's deadliest Islamist enemy Osama bin Laden said the U.S. president had dragged his country into a quagmire in Iraq and warned for the first time of retaliation for Iraqi deaths.
Gunmen killed an Oil Ministry official in the Iraqi capital and a car bomb blew up near a U.S. convoy on the airport road, killing an Iraqi security man, but causing no U.S. casualties.
U.S. Marines watched television coverage of the Bush-Kerry contest at a base near Falluja, west of Baghdad.
"A Bush win would mean we would stay the course in Iraq. A Kerry win means we would probably leave before the job is done," said 1st Lieutenant Tony King, 33.
First Lieutenant Sara Hope, 24, had only one thought in mind: "I am leaving in March no matter who wins."
BIN LADEN THREAT
In a full Internet broadcast of a video partly aired by Al Jazeera television last week bin Laden, the al Qaeda leader, said Bush had launched "an unjustified war on Iraq" against advice.
"Bush's hands are sullied with the blood of those on both sides just for oil and to employ his private companies," he said. "Remember that for every action, there is a reaction."
In Baghdad, four gunmen seized Radim Sadiq, a U.S. national of Lebanese origin, from his Lebanese company's office in the Mansour district late Tuesday, the Interior Ministry said.
An American, a Filipino and a Nepali were kidnapped on Monday when gunmen stormed a Saudi company villa in Mansour.
Insurgents seized four Jordanian drivers on a highway in western Iraq Tuesday, a Foreign Ministry official in Amman said. Relatives said the men were taking goods to U.S. bases.
The Care International charity that employs British-Iraqi captive Margaret Hassan said it was distressed by the latest video issued by her kidnappers and urged them to free her.
The tape showed Hassan -- seized by unidentified kidnappers in Baghdad on Oct. 19 -- fainting on camera with water thrown at her to revive her, a witness who saw the tape told Reuters.
"She was making a very, very emotional plea. She appeared distressed and suddenly fainted on camera. Water was tossed on her," said the witness who asked not to be identified.
Al Jazeera television aired another part of the video that showed a masked gunman speaking, but there was no audio.
Hassan's unidentified captors threatened to turn her over to a group led by al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi within 48 hours unless British troops quit Iraq, Al Jazeera said.
Zarqawi's group has claimed responsibility for hostage beheadings and some of Iraq's bloodiest suicide attacks.
BEHEADING
A militant group said it beheaded a man it called a senior member of Iraq's armed forces in the northern city of Mosul and posted a video of the killing on its Web site.
The Army of Ansar al-Sunna accused the officer, Major Hussein Shunun, of helping U.S. forces against insurgents.
The same group has claimed responsibility for killing many hostages, including 11 Iraqis it said were National Guard members, 12 Nepalese men and several Iraqi Kurds.
An Interior Ministry spokesman said gunmen had killed Hussein Ali, director-general of state-owned Refined Oil Products distribution company, as he left his home in Baghdad.
Guerrillas have killed scores of Iraqi officials to try to undermine Iraq's U.S.-backed interim government.
The car bomb on the airport road set a U.S. Humvee on fire, witnesses said. Reuters photographs show U.S. troops taking a corpse in a body bag to a military ambulance. A U.S. spokesman said later the body was that of an Iraqi security man.
Attacks and kidnappings have intensified as Marines step up pressure on Falluja and Ramadi before an expected offensive to retake rebel cities to enable elections to go ahead in January.
U.S. planes bombed targets in Falluja overnight, destroying an arms cache and an insurgent command post, the military said.
No Iraqi oil was flowing from a northern pipeline to Turkey after this week's sabotage attacks, shipping sources said.
