October 25, 2003	Saturday	Sha’aban 28, 1424

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BAGHDAD, Oct 24: Two US soldiers were killed in a mortar attack near the Iraqi town of Samarra on Friday, a US military spokeswoman said.

He added four soldiers were wounded in the attack, which took place just before noon around 100km north of Baghdad.

The deaths brought to 108 the number of US soldiers killed by hostile fire in Iraq since Washington declared major combat operations over on May 1.

TURKISH TROOPS: In a related development Washington has requested a break in talks on sending Turkish troops to join US-led forces in Iraq, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was quoted on Friday as saying.

NATO-member Turkey has offered to contribute troops to try to help stabilize its war-torn southern neighbour, but talks with US officials have so far yielded no firm details of any deployment since parliament approved the idea early this month.

“The United States has just approached our chiefs of staff saying ‘Give us a little time, let us continue with our work, and then we’ll move forward’,” Turkish NTV television’s Web site quoted him as saying.—Reuters