The new governing council of Iraq put off selecting a president Monday but voted to send a delegation to the U.N. Security Council. In the streets of the capital violence against U.S. forces erupted again, with one soldier killed in a rocket-propelled grenade attack.
At the close of its first full day of business, the council issued a statement that said the U.N. delegation would "assert and emphasize the role of the governing council as a legitimate Iraqi body during this transitional period."
Meanwhile, an American soldier was killed and four wounded in fighting in Iraq, the US military said Monday.
The soldiers were with the 3rd Infantry Division, which is charged with patrolling Baghdad, said Spc. Giovanni Llorente, a military spokesman, according to AP.
However, there were several blasts along the al-Khadra Highway in western Baghdad early Monday, said witnesses reported U.S. casualties.
Late Sunday, an explosion near a police station in a Baghdad suburb killed one Iraqi. The Associated Press reported Iraqi police believe the blast may have been a failed car bombing attack on the police station.
Local police said the station was full of US soldiers and Iraqi police at the time of the blast. A white Volkswagen was destroyed, and a headless body was found nearby. The body is thought to have been one of two men who were trying to get the explosive-packed car near the station.
In a related development, a group claiming to be an Iraqi branch of the al-Qaeda network said Sunday it, and not followers of Saddam Hussein, is behind the frequent attacks on US troops in Iraq. In a video broadcast on Al-Arabiya television channel, the group also warned of more attacks in the coming days.
The group called itself the Fallujah Branch of the Armed Islamic Movement for Al-Qaeda. "I swear by God no one from his (Saddam Hussein) followers carried out any jihad operations like he claims... they (attacks) are a result of our brothers in jihad," said the voice on the audio tape. (Albawaba.com)
