BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Guerrillas fired a barrage of mortar rounds at Baghdad's largest prison yesterday, killing 22 prisoners in an attack a U.S. general said may have been an attempt to spark an uprising against their American guards.
A U.S. soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in the northern city of Mosul, the 100th American combat death in April, the deadliest month since the U.S.-led invasion began in March 2003.
Meanwhile, Iraqi leaders have set up a tribunal of seven judges and four prosecutors to try ousted dictator Saddam Hussein and other members of his Baathist regime, a spokesman announced yesterday.
Salem Chalabi, a U.S.-educated lawyer and nephew of the head of the Iraqi National Congress, was appointed general director of the tribunal, which has a 2004-2005 budget of $75 million, INC spokesman Entefadh Qanbar said.
A date has yet to be set for the trial of Saddam, who was captured by U.S. troops in December and has since been held by U.S. troops at an undisclosed location in or near Baghdad.
Ninety-two prisoners were wounded in the mortar attack on the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison, 25 of them seriously, said Col. Jill Morgenthaler, a U.S. military spokeswoman.
This isn't the first time that we have seen this kind of attack. We don't know if they are trying to inspire an uprising or a prison break
Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said.
All of the casualties were security detainees, meaning they were suspected of involvement in the anti-U.S. insurgency or of being part of Saddam's ousted regime. The prison houses some 5,000 security prisoners.
U.S. Marines patrolling Baghdad discovered the area the mortars were fired from, but the insurgents had fled, Morgenthaler said.
The attack was the bloodiest against the sprawling prison complex in western Baghdad. In August, six security prisoners were killed in a mortar attack on the lockup, which was once Saddam's most notorious prison.
In addition to the 100th American killed, four U.S. soldiers were wounded in the roadside bombing in Mosul, Lt. Col. Joseph Piek said. Three Iraqi civilians also were wounded, he said.
Also yesterday, Iraqi security forces, some wearing flak jackets and carrying weapons, moved back into the besieged city of Fallujah, part of an agreement between U.S. officials and local leaders aimed at ending hostilities. The accord calls on insurgents to hand in their weapons and allows civilians to return.
U.S. officials have warned that if guerrillas do not surrender their weapons, Marines are prepared to storm the city.
If the peaceful track does not play itself out ... major hostilities will resume on short notice U.S. spokesman Dan Senor said.
Announcements on U.S. military-run radio broadcast into the city called on residents to turn in machine guns, grenade launchers, missiles and other heavy weapons to Iraqi security forces or at the mayor's office.
Senor would not comment on whether any guerrillas had turned in weapons, but cautioned that time is running out.
Marines were under orders not to fire on Iraqis carrying weapons but not aiming them in case they were heading to turn them in. Until now, Marines could shoot at anyone with a weapon or wearing the black uniform typically worn by insurgents, said Capt. Shannon Johnson.
One group of men was seen actively brandishing and loading rocket-propelled grenade launchers yesterday, Marine Lt. Col. Brennan Bryne said. Troops hit the group with mortars, killing eight and destroying three vehicles, he said.
Fallujah was largely peaceful Tuesday, and there were cars filled with returning Iraqi police at a U.S. checkpoint.
Iraqi families also lined up at the checkpoint. As part of a deal announced Monday, the U.S. military agreed to let 50 families a day back into the city, but the lines at the checkpoint were so long Tuesday that some 150 people had to be turned away, said Capt. Ed Sullivan.
Kimmitt acknowledged yesterday that U.S. soldiers shot and killed two Iraqis working for the U.S. funded Al-Iraqiya television station a day earlier, but said the two had been filming a military checkpoint in the central city of Samarra and failed to stop despite repeated warning shots.
Cameraman Jassem Kamel, who was wounded, said the U.S. soldiers opened fire after the group finished filming police and security posts and were driving to film the city's spiral minaret.
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