US soldier killed in Iraq, IGC names new female member

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, December 09, 2003

US soldier killed in Iraq, IGC names new female member

One US soldier was killed by gunmen in northern Iraq on Monday, as the US-handpicked Iraqi Governing Council named a female dentist to replace a slain member.

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One US soldier was killed by gunmen in northern Iraq on Monday, as the US-handpicked Iraqi Governing Council named a female dentist to replace a slain member.

The soldier belonging to the 101st Airborne Division died of wounds received in a drive-by shooting by four Iraqis near a gas station in Mosul, 400 km north of Baghdad, said Brig. Gen. MarkKimmitt.

The unidentified gunmen fired from a vehicle which had stopped 400 meters away, shot and killed the soldier who was being conducting an operation, said the general.

The midday shooting was the latest in a series of lethal attacks that occurred in the northern major city, once a calm and secure place after the US occupation.

The death brought to 192 the number of US soldiers killed by hostile fire since US President George W. Bush declared the major combat over on May 1.

Meanwhile, the IGC said in a statement on Monday that it has chosen Salama al-Khufaji, a female dentist and professor at the Baghdad University to replace Akila al-Hashimi, who was assassinated in September.

Al-Hashimi, one of the three female members seated in the IGC, was shot and wounded on Sept. 20 near her residence in Baghdad and died of the wounds five days later.

It was said that al-Hashimi, the only Baath member chosen to enter the new Iraqi authority, was killed by former regime loyalists as an act of revenge and threat to collaborators with the coalition forces.

The long vacant place is at last filled by al-Khufaji, who is also a Shiite Muslim and comes from Karbala, a Shiite holy city 100km south of Baghdad.

Set up under the US auspices in July, the IGC consists of 13 Shiites, five Arab Sunnis, five Kurds, one Turkman and one Assyrian Christian, in accordance with the makeup of the Iraqi population.

In another development, 250 Iraqi policemen graduated on Monday after being acquainted with human rights knowledge and retrained in advanced skills at a Baghdad police academy.

At a ceremony on Monday afternoon at the Baghdad Public Safety Academy, the students were granted the certificates by the Iraqi Senior Deputy Interior Minister Ahmed Ibrahim and Maj. Gen. JohnGallinetti, chief of staff in the coalition task force in charge of reconstruction.

"We were trained in many things such as the use of new weapons,how to deal with people and situations and dealing with explosives," Husham Hamudy Shihab told Xinhua, showing his new certificate.

"I am pleased that I can work for the Iraqis rather than Saddam Hussein," said the 1st lieutenant, who had worked under the former regime as a policeman for five years.

The three-week course focuses on international standards for human rights, modern police patrol procedures and techniques and applicable Iraqi criminal laws, according to a press release.

"The Iraqi police now play the most important role" in the peace-keeping, said Gallinetti, who told Xinhua that he was confident the coalition forces can hand over security task to these Iraqis.

Also on Monday, sources said a group of two dozen South Korean electric experts had left Iraq, a reminder that the country could be more insecure for reconstruction as attacks targeting US forces and their allies have become more powerful.

Two South Korean workers were ambushed and killed near Saddam's hometown of Tikrit on Dec. 1, one day after two Japanese diplomats were slain by unknown forces in the same area.

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