2A - The Michigan Daily - Monday, November 21, 2005 NATION/WORLD U.S. may have killed Al-Zarqawi Terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi may be counted among dead BAGHDAD (AP) - U.S. forces sealed off a house in the northern city of Mosul where eight suspected al-Qaida members died in a gunfight - some by their own hand to avoid capture. A U.S. official said yester- day that efforts were under way to determine if terror leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was among the dead. Insurgents, meanwhile, killed an American soldier and a Marine in sepa- rate attacks over the weekend, while a British soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in the south. In Washington, a U.S. official said the identities of the terror suspects killed was unknown. Asked if they could include al-Zarqawi, the official replied: "There are efforts under way to deter- mine if he was killed." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information. American soldiers maintained con- trol of the site, imposing extraordinary security measures, a day after a fierce gun battle that broke out when Iraqi police and U.S. soldiers surrounded a house after reports that al-Qaida in Iraq members were inside. Three insurgents detonated explo- sives and killed themselves to avoid capture, Iraqi officials said. Eleven Americans were wounded, the U.S. military said. The U.S. soldier killed yesterday near the capital was assigned to the Army's Task Force Baghdad and was hit by small arms fire, the military said. The Marine, assigned to Regimental Com- bat Team 8, 2nd Marine Division, died of wounds suffered the day before in Karmah, a village outside Fallujah to the west of the capital. Their deaths brought to at least 2,093 the number of U.S. service members who have died since the war began in March 2003, according to an Associ- ated Press count. In the southern city of Basra, a roadside bomb killed a British soldier and wound- ed four others, the British Ministry of Defense said. The ministry said 98 British soldiers have died in the Iraq conflict. The U.S. military also said yester- day that 24 people - including another American Marine and 15 civilians - were killed the day before in an ambush on a joint U.S. Iraqi patrol in Haditha, 140 miles northwest of Baghdad in the volatile Euphrates River valley. According to the U.S. statement, the attack began Saturday with a roadside bomb detonating next to the Marine's vehicle, followed by a heavy volley of fire from insurgents. "Iraqi army soldiers and Marines returned fire, killing eight insurgents and wounding another," the statement said. Meanwhile, four women were killed yesterday night when gunmen stormed their home in a Christian district of eastern Baghdad, police said, add- ing that valuables were stolen and the motive for the attack appeared to have been robbery. The latest deaths occurred at the en of a violent three-day period in whicha least 140 Iraqi civilians died in a serie of bombings and suicide attacks - mos targeting Shiite Muslims. The victims included 76 people wh died Friday in near-simultaneous sui cide bombings at two Shiite mosques i Khanaqin and 36 more killed the nex day by a suicide car bomber who deto nated his vehicle amid mourners at Shiite funeral north of the capital. In Washington, Defense Secretar Donald Rumsfeld said yesterday o ABC's "This Week" that command ers' assessments will determine th pace of any military drawdown. Abou 160,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq as th country approaches parliamentary elections Dec. 15. The Pentagon has said it plans t scale back troop strength to its pre election baseline of 138,000, depend ing on conditions. Rumsfeld said th U.S.-led coalition continues to mak progress in training Iraqi securit forces, which he placed at 212,000. d at s st to i- n xt I- a y n i- e it e y :o i- ie BEIJING Bush: OK to oppose his war strategy After fiercely defending his Iraq policy across Asia, President Bush abruptly toned down his attack on war critics yesterday and said there was nothing unpatri- otic about opposing his strategy. "People should feel comfortable about expressing their opinions about Iraq," Bush said, three days after agreeing with Vice President Dick Cheney that the crit- ics were "reprehensible." The president also praised Rep. John Murtha, (D-Pa.), as "a fine man" and a strong supporter of the military despite the congressman's call for troop withdraw- al as soon as possible. Bush brought up the growing Iraq debate when he met reporters after inconclu- sive talks with President Hu Jintao about friction in U.S.-China relations. Bush tan into stiff resistance from the Chinese to his call for expanding religious freedom and human rights. He also reported no breakthroughs toward reducing China's massive trade sur- plus, overhauling its currency system or protecting intellectual property rights. The president took satisfaction simply in the fact that Hu mentioned human rights when the two leaders made joint statements to the press. "Those who watch China closely would say that maybe a decade ago, a leader wouldn't have uttered those comments," Bush said. "He talked about democracy." a Gunman fires shots in Tacoma mall Six injured in random shooting and two or three may have been taken hostage by assailant TACOMA, Wash. (AP) - A gunman opened fire inside a busy shopping mall yesterday and was believed to have taken two or three people hostage inside a music store, authorities said. At least six people were injured, one critically, as shoppers and store clerks scrambled for cover. "We're being held hostage," an employee who answered the phone at the Sam Goody store in Tacoma Mall said, identifying himself as Joe Hudson. He said little else but could be heard telling others that he was talking to The Associated Press. Then he hung up. Tacoma Police spokesman Mark Fulghum told Northwest Cable News that officers were trying to make contact with the suspect, who was believed to have two to three hostages. Stacy Wilson, 29, of Bonney Lake, said she was walking from J.C. Penney when she heard a popping noise and turned around. "I saw the gunman randomly shooting. I ran with a group of women to Victoria's Secret," Wilson said. She said they crouched behind a wall in the store, and when the shooting stopped, an employee ran out and closed a security gate at the front. Wilson said she heard 15 to 20 shots. "He was walking backward and shooting. I couldn't see his face," she said. "Everyone was running and screaming." Authorities got a call about 12:15 p.m. that shots had been fired inside the mall, Tacoma Fire Department Deputy Chief John Lendosky told CNN. State Patrol and police units from nearby agencies were clustered around an entrance at the south end of Tacoma Mall. Betz Dejarnatt, who works at the J.C. Penney store, said she heard three shots. She said some of the workers were herded into dressing rooms and offices, then police took them outside to a parking lot. Six people were taken to hospitals, most with minor injuries, Lendosky said. He couldn't confirm whether any of them had been shot. One person was in criti- cal condition at Tacoma General Hospital, spokesman Todd Kelley said. .. . w 4 <. r.. Y '> f s 4. °. S 5 i: %SA e TEHRAN, Iraq y Stakes raised in Iranian nuclear saga Raising the stakes before a key vote by the U.N. nuclear agency, lawmakers approved a bill yesterday requiring the government to block inspections of atomic facilities if the agency refers Iran to the Security Council for possible sanctions. The bill was favored by 183 of the 197 lawmakers present. The session was broadcast live on state-run radio four days before the International Atomic Energy Agency board considers referring Tehran to the Security Council for violating a nuclear arms control treaty. The council could impose sanctions. When the bill becomes law, as expected, it likely will strengthen the government's hand in resisting international pressure to permanently abandon uranium enrich- ment, a process that can produce fuel for either nuclear reactors or atomic bombs. The United States accuses Iran of trying to build a nuclear weapon. Iran says its program is for generating electricity. JERUSALEM Sharon quits Likud Party for new movement Israel's dovish Labor Party voted Sunday to pull out of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government, and Sharon reportedly decided to quit his Likud Party to set up a new movement - beginning a campaign for elections expected in March. Sharon is expected to take several prominent Likud Cabinet ministers with him to his new party, along with some from Labor - possibly including its ousted chairman Shimon Peres. Advancing Israel's election from the original November 2006 date would likely sideline Mideast peace moves and counter whatever momentum was gained from Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and part of the West Bank, com- pleted in September. WASHINGTON Gov't report: Crimes prevalent in schools * One in 20 students was a victim of violence or theft at school in 2003, the government said in a report that shows school crime rates about were half what they were 10 years earlier. Yet the school crime rate essentially has leveled off, showing no change since 2000, according to a report Sunday from the departments of Educa- tion and Justice. There were about 28 crimes of rape, sexual assault, robbery and physi- cal assault for every 1,000 students in 2003, compared with 59 per 1,000 a decade earlier. The study looked at crimes against the 26.4 million stu- dents who were 12 years old to 18 years old in 2003. - Compiled from Daily wire reports CORRECTIONS Please report any error in the Daily to corrections@michigandaily.com. AP PHOTO Police SWAT team members walk through the parking lot of the Tacoma Mall, yesterday In Tacoma, Wash., where an armed man took hostages shortly after noon. 01 be £CrC gn i ail 420 Maynard St., Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1327 www.michigandaily.com #v4"s' t ~* I The Art of Fine Wine and Food Located in the Plymouth Road Mall 2789 Plymouth Road at Huron Parkway 734-213-0303 * bellovino.com Hours: Mon- Sat. gam-9pm Sun. 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