October 5, 2003	Sunday	Sha’aban 8, 1424

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BAGHDAD, Oct 4: A US soldier died in a guerilla ambush and two Iraqis were killed and two US troops were injured after demonstrations by army veterans in Baghdad, Basra and Hilla turned violent on Saturday, as the occupation of Iraq neared the six-month mark.

The US military said two US soldiers were wounded in the exchange of fire in Baghdad between US troops and former Iraqi servicemen seeking back pay, while medical sources said an Iraqi was killed and two dozen were hurt.

In Basra, coalition forces shot dead an Iraqi during a similar demonstration, a British military spokesman and witnesses said.

One of the protesters in Basra said army conscripts lining up to get their backpay were arguing with coalition forces when British troops arrived and fired at a man holding a gun, who turned out to be a security guard.

There was also a similar protest by army veterans waiting for backpay in the central city of Hilla, but the coalition said it did not have much detail on what happened there.

By Saturday evening, the coalition had resumed payments to the soldiers who are the last of 440,000 conscripts to receive a one-off 40 dollar payment from the US-led forces, after they dissolved Saddam’s army in May.

The ambush late on Friday, which killed a 4th Infantry Division soldier and wounded another, brought to at least 85 the number of US troops who have died in guerrilla attacks since May 1.

A US soldier from the army’s 1st Armoured Division drowned in a swimming pool in Baghdad, the military confirmed.

Meanwhile, an Iraqi taxi driver was seriously wounded after a roadside bomb exploded in Kirkuk along a road used by US troops in northern Iraq, Iraqi police and medical officials said.

In the Baghdad violence, three members of a CNN crew suffered minor injuries when the crowd attacked them, said John Raedler, senior producer for the US network in Baghdad. A driver was hit on the head and a cameraman and a security adviser were punched, kicked and hit by rocks.

Rioters also punched a reporter for Turkey’s IHA news agency, smashing his camera and telephone.—Agencies