Iraq Gunmen Seize Second American in a Week

Gunmen kidnapped a Lebanese-American businessman -- the second U.S. citizen seized this week in Baghdad -- and videotape Wednesday showed the beheadings of three Iraqi National Guardsmen and an Iraqi officer. Elsewhere, a U.S. soldier was killed and another wounded in a roadside bombing 12 miles south of the capital. A suicide driver detonated his vehicle at a checkpoint near Baghdad airport, injuring nine Iraqis and prompting U.S. troops to close the main route into the city for hours. U.S. jets were in action again late Wednesday over Fallujah, striking insurgent targets in the northeastern and southern parts of the city where American forces are said to be gearing up for a major assault. Residents reported fierce exchanges of fire after midnight on the edge of the city. Gunmen killed a senior Oil Ministry official, Hussein Ali al-Fattal, after he left his house Wednesday in the Yarmouk district of western Baghdad, police said. Al-Fattal was the general manager of a state-owned company that distributes petroleum byproducts. Al-Jazeera television broadcast a threat by an unspecified armed group to strike oil installations and government buildings if the Americans launch an all-out assault on Fallujah. The report was accompanied by a videotape showing about 20 armed men brandishing various weapons including a truck-mounted machine gun. The violence served as grim reminder of Iraq's rapidly deteriorating security situation, which President Bush (news - web sites) must address now that he has won his long electoral contest against Sen.
John Kerry, who conceded defeat Wednesday. [more]

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