December 30, 2003	Tuesday	Ziqa’ad 6, 1424

MOSUL, Dec 29: US forces claimed to have killed three suspected members of a group linked to Al Qaeda in a gunbattle in Iraq, and Thailand and Bulgaria vowed that their soldiers would stay on despite coming under deadly attack.

Japan, also a strong supporter of Washington’s policy in Iraq, added its name on Monday to a list of countries joining a US initiative to cut Iraq’s huge debts, saying that it was prepared to write off most of what it was owed if others did the same.

US military officers said that during a US raid on a house in the northern city of Mosul on Sunday night, “suspected members of the Ansar al-Islam terrorist group” attacked soldiers with gunfire and grenades, wounding two.

US troops fired back, killing three attackers, and the house caught fire. Six Iraqis were detained during the raid, including three children, and handed over to police.

Ansar al-Islam, a group which Washington says has links to Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda network, ran a base in Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq during Saddam Hussein’s rule.

The base was destroyed by US missiles at the start of the war to topple Saddam, but officials say the organization has regrouped and is suspected of suicide bombings of occupying troops and international organizations.—Reuters