6 US soldiers die in Iraq bombings

BAGHDAD – Six US soldiers died in roadside bombings and a shooting, the military said yesterday, as lawmakers rushed to persuade Sunni Arabs to accept federalism provisions in the draft constitution that is due in one day.

With intense negotiations continuing just hours before parliament was to ratify the charter, one Shi’ite legislator, Jawad al-Maliki, told The Associated Press that the deadline might have to be extended. “If we don’t reach an agreement today, we might amend the interim constitution and extend the deadline by a minimum of two weeks,” he said.Amendments to the country’s current charter can be made only with the approval of three-fourths of parliament and unanimous approval of the president and his two deputies.Elsewhere, the US military said three soldiers were killed and one other wounded in a roadside bombing late Friday near Tuz Khormato, 150 km north of Baghdad.One soldier on a patrol was killed yesterday and three others wounded in a blast east of Rutbah, 400 km west of Baghdad, the military said.In another roadside bombing, one soldier was killed on Saturday and another wounded in western Baghdad.On Friday a US commander said the number of roadside bomb attacks against American convoys in Iraq had doubled in the past year to about 30 per week.Dozens of bombings, usually detonated by remote control, target US and Iraqi patrols each day.The military said in a brief statement from Baghdad that one soldier was found dead Friday of a gunshot wound.The military said an investigation was underway and did not say where the soldier was found or if an attack was suspected in the soldier’s death.Police said a senior Iraqi Central Bank official, Haseeb Kadum, was kidnapped outside his home.- Nampa-AP”If we don’t reach an agreement today, we might amend the interim constitution and extend the deadline by a minimum of two weeks,” he said.Amendments to the country’s current charter can be made only with the approval of three-fourths of parliament and unanimous approval of the president and his two deputies.Elsewhere, the US military said three soldiers were killed and one other wounded in a roadside bombing late Friday near Tuz Khormato, 150 km north of Baghdad.One soldier on a patrol was killed yesterday and three others wounded in a blast east of Rutbah, 400 km west of Baghdad, the military said.In another roadside bombing, one soldier was killed on Saturday and another wounded in western Baghdad.On Friday a US commander said the number of roadside bomb attacks against American convoys in Iraq had doubled in the past year to about 30 per week.Dozens of bombings, usually detonated by remote control, target US and Iraqi patrols each day.The military said in a brief statement from Baghdad that one soldier was found dead Friday of a gunshot wound.The military said an investigation was underway and did not say where the soldier was found or if an attack was suspected in the soldier’s death.Police said a senior Iraqi Central Bank official, Haseeb Kadum, was kidnapped outside his home.- Nampa-AP