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Coalition: Airstrikes kill attacker near FallujahBush says U.S. defended U.N. credibility in Iraq
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Coalition airstrikes killed an attacker early Tuesday after members of the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division came under fire near Fallujah, west of the Iraqi capital, the Coalition Press Information Center said. Video from the scene also showed a number of wounded Iraqis on stretchers and at least one crater in the ground. According to the coalition, members of the 82nd Airborne came under attack near Fallujah -- a town about 43 miles (70 kilometers) west of Baghdad -- just after 2 a.m. (6 p.m. EDT Monday). Coalition forces pursued the attackers into a building and set up a perimeter around it before calling in air support. The area around Fallujah remains a focus of Saddam Hussein and his Baath Party loyalists. President Bush on Tuesday defended the invasion of Iraq before the U.N. General Assembly, saying the United States and its allies "acted to defend the peace and the credibility of the United Nations." (Full story) The president urged the world body to aid the U.S.-led reconstruction of Iraq but said the restoration of the country's self-rule should not be rushed "by the wishes of other parties." Bush acknowledged differences among U.N. members before the March invasion, but he said members must "move forward" to rebuild Iraq. The president is seeking support for a U.S.-sponsored Security Council resolution that would expand a multinational force in Iraq. The White House also would like to attract financial contributions from allies. Following his speech, Bush plans to hold bilateral meetings with several world leaders, including French President Jacques Chirac, who have sharply criticized the administration's Iraq policy. Also speaking Tuesday to the General Assembly, Chirac called for the restoration of self-rule in Iraq on a "realistic timetable" and said the U.S.-led invasion undermined the United Nations. Chirac said the invasion, which was carried out without U.N. support, "shook the multilateral system." In an interview Monday with The New York Times, the French leader said he did not intend to veto the U.S. resolution unless it became "provocative." (Full story) Other developments• Al-Jazeera said Tuesday that the Iraqi Governing Council has banned the Arabic-language TV network's bureau in Baghdad from covering official business for two weeks, including the affairs of the council. The development came as the Governing Council looked into the legalities of closing down the Baghdad offices of Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya, another popular network. The report could not initially be confirmed with the council or the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority. Al-Jazeera said the message was passed along verbally, and it plans to continue its activities until it receives an official order in writing. • U.S. and Iraqi officials Tuesday announced the return of the Warka Mask, billed as one of the most important artifacts looted from the Iraqi National Museum during the fall of Baghdad in April. (Full story) • A suicide bombing Monday near U.N. headquarters in Baghdad left an Iraqi security guard and the bomber dead, a U.S. military spokesman said. It was the second bombing in about a month to target the U.N. compound in the Iraqi capital. An attack in August killed at least 20 people. "No damage was done to the U.N. building," the spokesman said of Monday's bombing. "No coalition forces were killed or injured that we know of at this point." Iraqi authorities and the FBI are investigating, and the coalition does not know who was responsible, said Col. George Krivo. (Gallery: Blast near U.N. headquarters; Interactive: U.N. workers in line of fire) • British coalition forces rescued an Iraqi policeman from a mob at a police station in the southern city of Basra, a spokesman said Monday. British Maj. Charlie Mayo said the mob came to the police station Sunday angry about an arrest by the police officer. The crowd began shouting at the officer, who came out of the building and fired a round of warning shots into the air, according to Mayo. The mob then beat the officer and shot him in the head. The wounded officer feigned death, and the crowd quickly dispersed as coalition forces arrived, Mayo said. • Three U.S. soldiers were killed Saturday in two attacks in Iraq, according to the Coalition Press Information Center. In the first, a soldier from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment was killed after an explosive device ripped through a U.S. military convoy traveling west of Baghdad. Shortly afterward, a mortar attack killed two U.S. soldiers and wounded 13 others at Abu Ghraib prison just outside Baghdad, the coalition said. With the attacks, 304 U.S. troops have been killed since the Iraq war began in March -- 195 from hostile fire and 109 "nonhostile" deaths, which include accidents. 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 the AP said that the figure was based on records of only half of Iraq's hospitals and the actual number was thought to be significantly higher. (Special: U.S. and coalition casualties) • A member of the Iraqi Governing Council is reported to be recovering after a second operation for gunshot wounds she sustained near her Baghdad home. Akila al-Hashimi suffered severe internal injuries when her convoy was attacked Saturday. Doctors operated on Hashimi to remove a bullet in her abdomen, and she had further surgery Sunday. It was the first attack on Iraq's new leadership since coalition officials established the council. (Full story) CNN's Jason Bellini, Phil Hirschkorn, Liz Neisloss and Nic Robertson contributed to this report. Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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