American and Iraqi forces raided Baghdad's Sadr City section on Tuesday, killing a young boy and two other people, police said. A Shiite legislator told reporters outside a hospital morgue that Iraq's government should be condemned for allowing such attacks.
"I am suspending my membership in parliament since it remains silent about crimes such as this against the Iraqi people," legislator Saleh Al-Ukailli told reporters outside the Imam Ali Hospital, according to the AP.
Police Capt. Mohammed Ismail said three civilians were killed and 15 injured, and several houses damaged, during the attack.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said US forces are trapped in Iraq, adding that Washington must find the right time to leave without. "On the question of the military presence it is a difficult issue. The US is in a way trapped in Iraq, trapped in the sense that it cannot stay and it cannot leave," Annan told a press conference Tuesday. "The timing of its departure will have to be optimal," he added, according to AFP.
An eventual withdrawal of US forces should "not lead to a further deterioration," Annan cautioned.
The UN chief said Washington should instead "try and get it to a level that when it withdraws, the Iraqis themselves will be able to maintain a situation that would ensure a reasonable secure environment".
© 2006 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
