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In Mosul, 11 die when suicide vest explodes as U.S. troops raid house
By Robert H. Reid
Associated Press
Published on Monday, Oct 06, 2008
BAGHDAD: Egypt sent its foreign minister to Iraq on Sunday for the first time in nearly two decades in a sign of growing Arab acceptance of the country's Shiite-led government.
In the north, 11 people died during a U.S. raid on a house in Mosul, where an extremist detonated a suicide vest — a stark reminder that Iraq still faces security challenges despite a drop in violence.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said his visit was aimed at helping Iraq face its ''many challenges,'' including extremism, violence and sectarian hatred.
''And we hope that peace and security will prevail in Iraq,'' Aboul Gheit said. He told reporters Egypt was ready to open a new embassy and help with reconstruction of Iraq's oil industry.
It was the first visit to Iraq by an Egyptian foreign minister since 1990, when President Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and his regime was largely shunned by Arab governments.
The United States has been urging the mostly Sunni-run Arab countries to shore up relations with Shiite-led Iraq as a counterweight to the influence of Shiite-dominated Iran. But the Arabs were reluctant during the height of Shiite-Sunni fighting, which receded last year after the U.S. troop buildup.
In recent months, leaders of Jordan and Lebanon have visited Iraq, along with the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, which has sent an ambassador. Regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia has remained on the sidelines, saying it was waiting until security improves.
Aboul Gheit's visit was noteworthy, however, because of Egypt's traditional role as a leading Arab state and host of the Arab League. The Egyptians sent an ambassador to Baghdad in 2005 but he was kidnapped and murdered by al-Qaida in Iraq.
U.S. officials are anxious for Iraq to bolster its ties to the Arab world as Washington prepares do draw down its 140,000 troops next year. U.S. and Iraqi officials are negotiating a security deal the Iraqis say would see the last American troops leave the country by the end of 2011.
Although violence is down more than 80 percent from early 2007 levels, U.S. military commanders warn that security gains are not irreversible because Sunni and Shiite extremists have been battered but not defeated.
Those fears were underscored by the carnage in Mosul, the third-largest city where U.S. and Iraqi forces have been trying to months to drive out al-Qaida in Iraq and other Sunni extremist groups.
American troops came under heavy gunfire after entering a house early Sunday looking for a suspected insurgent, the U.S. military said in a statement.
As U.S. soldiers returned fire, a man inside the house detonated a suicide vest, the statement added.
Five alleged terrorists as well as three women and three children were killed, according to the statement. Two other children, including one who was injured, were found near the building and moved to safety, the military said. A weapons cache was later found inside.
No American casualties were reported.
Also Sunday, the Turkish military said warplanes bombed Kurdish rebel bases in northern Iraq, two days after rebels killed 15 soldiers in an attack staged partly from Iraqi soil.
The planes on Saturday bombed rebel hideouts in Iraq's Avasin Basyan region and returned safely to their bases, the Turkish military said.
BAGHDAD: Egypt sent its foreign minister to Iraq on Sunday for the first time in nearly two decades in a sign of growing Arab acceptance of the country's Shiite-led government.
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