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U.N. welcomes new Iraq governmentU.S. Army apologizes for copter incident
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- The United Nations Security Council on Thursday passed a resolution welcoming the Iraqi Governing Council and approving the U.N. assistance mission in the country. "This expression of support ... hastens the day when the people of Iraq are in full command of their own affairs -- a condition they have not known for three decades," said U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Negroponte. "It also sends a message to those opposed (to efforts in Iraq) that they are out of step with world opinion," he said. The resolution passed 14-0, with Syria -- the only Arab nation currently on the Security Council -- abstaining. U.S. Commander apologizes for Baghdad incidentThe head of U.S. ground forces in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez, told reporters Thursday that the Army had apologized to local officials and was investigating an incident that prompted a violent demonstration. A Shiite Muslim leader urged U.S. forces to steer clear of Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood after the event, apparently triggered by an American helicopter. Videotape of the incident shows the helicopter hovering near a communications tower that was flying a black flag, a symbol of the Shiite Muslim faith. Witnesses said a soldier in the helicopter tried to take down the flag, CNN's Rym Brahimi reported. Sanchez said the flag was either blown down by the helicopter's rotors or somehow taken down, and that steps were being taken to ensure that it did not happen again. "There is no policy on our part to fly helicopters up to communications towers to take down flags," he said. The incident sparked disturbances and gunfire in the area with some residents throwing objects at U.S. troops driving by. A local cleric, Shaikh Qais Al-Khazali, said U.S. troops in four armored personnel carriers fired into the crowd, wounding four people. Sanchez said U.S. troops only fired when their unit was shot at with small arms and a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). "The demonstration was about 3,000 people when we sent the unit to investigate. The unit came under fire by small arms and actually an RPG was fired also from the crowd. Our unit returned fire and it wound up killing the RPG gunner and they wounded four others," he said. Sanchez said U.S. forces would continue to be aggressive, because they are fighting in a low-intensity conflict. "We are moving towards a precision approach in the conduct of our operations that begins to take into consideration the Iraqi culture and sensitivities and we want to be precise in our application of combat power," Sanchez said. British soldier killed in BasraA British soldier was killed and two were wounded Thursday when an improvised explosive device went off as their ambulance passed by in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, British military officials said.
The three were driving on the outskirts of the town center when the incident occurred. They said the bomb, hidden next to a lamp post, was apparently detonated by remote control. The injuries sustained by the wounded soldiers are not considered life threatening, British officials said. They said the ambulance was clearly marked with a red cross. It was on its way to a hospital in Shaibah. A total of 44 members of the British military have been killed since the start of the Iraq war. U.S. forces have suffered 268 deaths since the start of the war -- 175 combat deaths and 93 deaths in "nonhostile" situations. Sixty U.S. troops have been killed since President Bush declared an end to major fighting in Iraq on May 1. The latest came Wednesday when an merican soldier was killed and another wounded Wednesday when their armored personnel carrier ran over an improvised explosive device north of the Iraqi capital, U.S. military officials said. There is no reliable source for Iraqi civilian or combatant casualty figures, either during the period of major combat or after May 1. The Associated Press reported an estimated 3,240 civilian Iraqi deaths between March 20 and April 20, but AP reported that the figure was based on records of only half Iraq's hospitals and the actual number was thought to be significantly higher. Other developments
• A group of U.S. military veterans and families of troops in Iraq announced Wednesday a campaign to end the U.S. occupation in Iraq. Members of the group, called Bring Them Home Now, said U.S. soldiers are demoralized by the poor living conditions and almost daily attacks. (Full story) • The United States circulated a draft resolution at the United Nations spelling out U.N. support for the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council. It also authorizes the establishment of a U.N. Assistance Mission for Iraq. The mission is to have 300 civilian officers with areas of responsibility that include humanitarian issues, human rights and political matters in Iraq. Under the proposed resolution, the U.S.-led coalition would still have the ultimate authority in Iraq. A vote could come as early as Thursday. • A handwritten message purportedly from deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein praises a Shiite cleric for opposing the U.S. occupation and calls on other Shiite clergy to push for jihad, according to an Al-Jazeera broadcast Wednesday. However, the Arab news network abruptly stopped reporting on the letter soon afterward. Al-Jazeera did not disclose details of how it obtained the letter. The authenticity of the letter could not be independently confirmed. The network has not mentioned the note again and gave no explanation why it stopped reporting on it. • A U.S. military probe finds that troops who fired a 120 mm tank round into the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad in April -- killing two journalists and wounding three -- thought they were shooting at an enemy spotter during heavy fighting, according to Central Command. A report on the military's investigation said the troops did not know the journalists were using the building as headquarters during the war. CNN Baghdad Bureau Chief Jane Arraf, Correspondents Richard Roth, Rym Brahimi, Nic Robertson and Barbara Starr, and Producers Ayman Mohyeldin, Mike Mount and Liz Neisloss contributed to this report.
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