Gunmen kill 12 in Iraq as US toll nears 2 000

BAGHDAD – Twelve Iraqi building workers were gunned down, police said yesterday as the US death toll since the invasion neared 2 000, heightening pressure on President George W.

Bush over the US role in the violence-ravaged country. With the insurgency showing little sign of abating, Iraqi officials were continuing to tally votes from the referendum on a new post-Saddam Hussein constitution with full results still not known nine days after the vote.The electoral commission said it would release results from a 14th province on the charter, which has exacerbated the country’s deep ethnic divisions.It was not known if the results were from Nineveh, a Sunni-dominated province in northwestern Iraq that could decide whether the charter has been approved.Although the constitution appears headed for victory with overwhelming support from Shi’ites and Kurds, it could be scuttled by Sunni Arabs if they muster a two-thirds majority against in at least three of Iraq’s 18 provinces.Sunni Arabs, once powerful under Saddam but now on the political sidelines after largely boycotting elections in January, fear federalist provisions in the constitution could lead to the break-up of the country and leave Iraq’s oil wealth in the hands of the majority Shi’ites and Kurds.Violence has been relatively low since the October 15 referendum but on Sunday, 12 workers on a building site were killed and their foreman kidnapped, police said Monday.The workers, who belonged to three families from the region, were working on the construction of a new government building in Jorf al-Sakhr about 50 kilometres south of Baghdad.Security sources said another 13 Iraqis, including two small children, were killed on Sunday in a series of attacks across the country that also wounded more than 30 people, among them five US soldiers.On Saturday, the US military announced the death of four of its troops in Iraq, moving the overall toll since the US-led invasion of March 2003 closer to the psychologically significant total of 2 000.The latest deaths brought to 1 991 the number of US military personnel killed in Iraq, according to an AFP tally based on Pentagon figures.In Washington, former US national security advisor Brent Scowcroft unveiled new evidence of divisions among Republicans over the Iraq war and particularly the role of Vice President Dick Cheney, The New Yorker magazine said.Scowcroft said the promotion of US-style democracy should not be used as an excuse to use force abroad, as he launched a rare open attack on Cheney.- Nampa-AFPWith the insurgency showing little sign of abating, Iraqi officials were continuing to tally votes from the referendum on a new post-Saddam Hussein constitution with full results still not known nine days after the vote.The electoral commission said it would release results from a 14th province on the charter, which has exacerbated the country’s deep ethnic divisions.It was not known if the results were from Nineveh, a Sunni-dominated province in northwestern Iraq that could decide whether the charter has been approved.Although the constitution appears headed for victory with overwhelming support from Shi’ites and Kurds, it could be scuttled by Sunni Arabs if they muster a two-thirds majority against in at least three of Iraq’s 18 provinces.Sunni Arabs, once powerful under Saddam but now on the political sidelines after largely boycotting elections in January, fear federalist provisions in the constitution could lead to the break-up of the country and leave Iraq’s oil wealth in the hands of the majority Shi’ites and Kurds.Violence has been relatively low since the October 15 referendum but on Sunday, 12 workers on a building site were killed and their foreman kidnapped, police said Monday.The workers, who belonged to three families from the region, were working on the construction of a new government building in Jorf al-Sakhr about 50 kilometres south of Baghdad.Security sources said another 13 Iraqis, including two small children, were killed on Sunday in a series of attacks across the country that also wounded more than 30 people, among them five US soldiers.On Saturday, the US military announced the death of four of its troops in Iraq, moving the overall toll since the US-led invasion of March 2003 closer to the psychologically significant total of 2 000.The latest deaths brought to 1 991 the number of US military personnel killed in Iraq, according to an AFP tally based on Pentagon figures.In Washington, former US national security advisor Brent Scowcroft unveiled new evidence of divisions among Republicans over the Iraq war and particularly the role of Vice President Dick Cheney, The New Yorker magazine said.Scowcroft said the promotion of US-style democracy should not be used as an excuse to use force abroad, as he launched a rare open attack on Cheney.- Nampa-AFP