New representative for Iraq at the UN, American soldier killed in al-Anbar
Iraq, Politics, 9/18/2004

The US army announced the death of one American Marine by the bullets of gunmen in al-Anbar province to the west of Iraq. No further details were given.

By the new killed American soldier, the number of US soldiers killed increased to 1028 since the beginning of the war against Iraq in March 2003.

Meantime an American raid against Falluja, in al-Anbar governorate resulted in killing at least three Iraqis including one woman and wounding of 10 children.

Though an American military spokesman said that the bombardment of Falluja which took place on Friday evening targeted a house in which ten activists of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi were meeting, witnesses said that the bombardment destroyed four houses, one of them was completely destroyed on the family which was inside it.

The raid came hours after a similar raid targeted al-Bushniter village near al-Falujja that resulted -- according to medical sources -- in the killing of 56 persons including several women and children and wounding other 40.

However, in a later development, the British forces controlled the headquarters of al-Shaheed al-Sader office in Basra city to the south of Iraq. Following violent clashes with the fighters of al-Mahdi army of the Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sader.

The British forces announced that it confiscated amounts of weapons found in the office.

The clashes took place after one British patrol was ambushed by fighters from al-Mahdi army in which one British soldier was injured.

A spokesman for the British forces in Basra said that the British soldier was strongly injured. The Iraqi police and the American forces carried out a vast breaking in operation in Baghdad that resulted in detention of 63 gunmen. The Iraqi police said that Syrians, Egyptians and Lebanese are among the persons arrested.

At the political level, Sameer al-Sumeidi submitted his credential as Iraq's first ambassador to the UN after the invasion of Iraq to the UN secretary general.

However, Iraq cannot resume voting at the UN General Assembly in which it is a member because it did not pay its delayed dues of $ 14.5 million.

According to UN rules, countries lose their rights to vote if they do not pay delayed dues for two or more years, though the UN General Assembly can chose to permit any country to resume voting if it reaches the conclusion that this discrepancy is a result from conditions outside the control of the member state.

Previous Stories:
  Three Iraqi truck drivers were assassinated, two Americans, one British were kidnapped in Baghdad   (9/17/2004)
  Three American soldiers were killed in Iraq   (9/17/2004)
  State's Armitage says Iraqi judges vital to Iraq's democracy   (9/16/2004)

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