Center of U.S. operations in Baghdad attacked
Halliburton under scrutiny over possible $61 million overcharge
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U.S. Army Pfc. Jordon McGee supervises the limited distribution of gas at a filling station in Baghdad on Friday.
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President Bush defends his exclusions on contracts to rebuild Iraq.
CNN's Alphonso Van Marsh on military prosecutors's charges of illegal methods in interrogation of an Iraqi detainee.
CNN's Chris Huntington on critics' charges that Halliburton is gouging taxpayers for gas transport to Iraq.
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SPECIAL REPORT
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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. military said that unidentified explosions overnight in Baghdad were rocket attacks targeting the "Green Zone" in Baghdad, the location of the Coalition Provisional Authority and the nerve center of U.S. operations.
"What we know now is three to six explosions impacted in ... one of the buildings inside the Green Zone, not the palace or the headquarters," Brig. Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti told CNN. "There were two wounded, both were (U.S.) soldiers."
He said the soldiers were not seriously hurt.
The ferocity of the blasts had people working inside the headquarters diving under their desks, sources said. The Coalition Provisional Authority headquarters was targeted in November by insurgents but no one was injured.
The Green Zone -- a compound measuring two miles long and 1.5 miles wide, sits on the west bank of the Tigris River in the center of Baghdad -- is the name for the area where U.S. operations are centered. It's the most heavily guarded site in the city.
Scaparrotti, the assistant commander for maneuvers in the 1st Armored Division, in charge of Baghdad, said damage was still being assessed. He said the rockets came from southeast Baghdad and soldiers are trying to pinpoint the exact location.
Pentagon audit raises questions
A Pentagon audit is raising questions about whether a subsidiary of Halliburton -- an oil services company once run by Vice President Dick Cheney -- overcharged the U.S. government $61 million for gasoline imported from Kuwait to Iraq.
The Pentagon said Thursday a routine review turned up the potential overcharge by subsidiary Kellogg, Brown and Root, which was awarded a no-bid contract in March to rebuild Iraq's oil industry.
But there is no allegation that Halliburton unduly profited from the overpriced gas.
The audit questions if Halliburton paid above-market rates to a Kuwaiti subcontractor when it paid $2.27 per gallon for the gas compared to another supplier who got gas at $1.18 per gallon from Turkey.
Halliburton says the higher cost was because the firm had to negotiate a short-term contract at a time when there weren't enough trucks in Kuwait to deliver the fuel. It says trucks had to be brought in and shipping in a war zone pushed up the transportation and security costs as well.
In a statement, Halliburton insisted those costs are "pass-through costs" and said the company "only recovers a few cents on the dollar."
Congressional critics, who accuse the company of price gouging, don't believe the claims.
"There have been indications for some months now that taxpayer interests aren't protected," said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon. "I'm glad the Defense Department is finally coming to ask some tough questions. They should have been raising these issues many months ago."
The contract is being reviewed, and Halliburton will have to justify the sum. If the government does not believe the cost is legitimate, the bill will be disallowed.
In that case, Halliburton would have to assume the debt, or it could go back to the Kuwaiti subcontractor to try to address the issue.
Auditors also found another potential Halliburton overcharge of $67 million for dining halls in Iraq, but they say that seems to be a billing error.
That bill has not been paid. (Full story)
Also Thursday, President Bush defended the decision to limit the competition for $18.6 billion worth of Iraq reconstruction contracts to countries that supported the war, despite sharp international protests. (Full story)
Two soldiers die in Iraq
Two U.S. soldiers were killed in separate incidents Friday, including one who died after a crude bomb exploded as a U.S. convoy passed, the military said.
The bomb went off around 6:30 a.m. (10:30 p.m. EST Thursday) near the town of Ramadi, about 60 miles west of Baghdad. A convoy carrying members of Task Force All American was traveling on the road at the time.
Three soldiers were wounded in the blast, but one later died at a field hospital, the military said. The condition of the two other soldiers was not immediately released.
Earlier Friday, a soldier with the U.S. Army's 1st Armored Division died Friday after suffering a "non-hostile gunshot wound," the military said. The soldier, whose identity was not released pending notification of next of kin, died around 3:20 a.m. (7:20 p.m. Thursday EST).
Further details about what happened were not available but the incident is under investigation.
The deaths bring to 455 the number of U.S. troops killed since the start of the Iraq war. Of those, 312 have died from hostile fire, while 143 deaths have been classified as non-hostile.
Other developments
• One U.S. soldier was killed and 14 wounded Thursday in a suspected suicide attack in the central Iraqi town of Ramadi, west of Baghdad, said U.S. Army Lt. Col. William Darley. A car carrying the suspected bombers blew up near the entrance of the 82nd Airborne Division headquarters, Darley said. The three passengers inside the car were killed, he said. Eleven of the wounded soldiers have returned to duty after treatment, Darley said. The conditions of the other three are unavailable.
CNN's Maria Arbelaez, Jane Arraf, Nic Robertson, Jill Dougherty, John King and Elise Labott contributed to this report.
