One American killed, many injured; Iraqi Republican general arrested

The US occupation army in Iraq announced yesterday that its soldiers detained one of the former personal guards of deposed President Saddam Hussein in addition to a member at the Iraqi Republican Guard commission, in a series of raids they carried out in Tikrit yesterday.

An American army officer said that the occupation forces arrested during the operation, which lasted for three hours and attended by 300 soldiers and besieged 20 houses, 14 persons from one family which was among the strong supporters of the former Iraqi regime, trying to support the remains of the former regime by organizing attacks through providing material support and trying to shelter members of the former regime."

Meantime, an American military spokeswoman said that one US soldier was killed and two others wounded in an attack by mortars at an American military convoy in al-Ramadi town to the west of Baghdad.

Witnesses said that an armored vehicle for the American army was destroyed in al-Musil and this resulted in wounding four American soldiers. Scores of American soldiers carried out an inspection and breaking-in operations for neighboring houses in an attempt to chase the attacker.