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Video shows American hostage
with gun to head, 12 casualties
in mounting Baghdad violence
By BASSEM MROUE
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
BAGHDAD — An American
kidnapped in November pleaded for his
life in a video aired Tuesday, and at least
a dozen Iraqis died in Baghdad as
political violence continued to plague
the country five, days before Sunday’s
crucial elections for a new National
Assembly.
On a day the U.S. military
announced that six American soldiers
died, Iraqi police engaged in fierce
shootouts with insurgents, including
gunmen who were handing out leaflets
warning Iraqis not to vote or risk seeing
their families’ blood “wash the streets of
Baghdad.”
In the hostage video, a bearded Roy
Hallums, 56, speaking with a rifle pointed
at his head, said he had been taken by a
“resistance group” because “I have worked
with American forces.” He appealed to
Arab leaders, including Libya’s Moammar
Gadhafi, to save his life.
Hallums was seized by gunmen Nov.
1 along with Robert Tarongoy of the
Philippines at their compound in
Baghdad’s Mansour district. The two
worked for a Saudi company that does
catering for the Iraqi army. The Filipino
was not shown in the video and it was
not known when the video was made.
“I am please asking for help because
my life is in danger because it’s been
proved I worked for American forces,”
Hallums said.
In Westminster, Calif., his daughter,
Carrie Cooper, 29, said she last saw him
at a family reunion last June.
“My heart’s broken to see my dad
with a gun to his head. ... He’s fearless
and he wanted to help the people there
and rebuild Iraq,” she told KNBC-TV.
Hallums’ former wife, Susan Hallums,
urged President Bush to help the captive
and urged the kidnappers to let him go.
“Please release him. He’s never hurt
anybody in his life. He’s only done good
things. He’s a wonderful father and
grandfather, and he’s kind and I know
that you can see that he’s kind,” she said
at her home in Corona, Calif.
The U.S. military announced that a
Bradley armored vehicle rolled into a
canal northeast of Baghdad during a
combat patrol Monday night, killing five
American soldiers and injuring two from
the Army’s 1st Infantry Division. The
accident, which was under investigation,
occurred near the town of Khan Bani
Saad during a sandstorm, it said.
A sixth U.S. soldier died Monday of
wounds from a roadside bomb that
blasted an American patrol in Baghdad,
the military said.
.At least 1,378 members of the U.S.
military have died since the beginning of
the Iraq war in March 2003, according
^ ii.i., uuii ajuuumiion that the
new Iraqi government might ask the
Americans to set a timetable for foreign
trqpps to leave. But Interim Prime
Minister Ayad Allawi said Tuesday it
wait too soon to do that, saying Iraq
must first build up its security forces to
confront the insurgents.
5 U.S. commanders are devising a plan
for as many as 10,000 soldiers and
Marines to accompany Iraqi units as
advisers and trainers, defense officials in
Wpshington said. That would be a
substantial increase from the few
thousand now doing such work.
“Tuesday was the last day for Iraqis
livjpg outside the country to register for
the' weekend vote, and international
organizers said less than 25 percent of
those eligible had done so. The biggest
turnout was among Iraqis living in Iran
— more than 53,000.
Iraqi authorities blamed the low
turnout on several factors, including the
long distances that many had to travel in
countries like the United States and
Australia.
But Majeed al-Gaood, a member of
National Front of the Iraqi Intellectuals,
a Sunni Arab opposition group, said
many chose not to register because of the
country’s continuing instability and the
presence of U.S. troops.
“How can we expect Iraqis to take
part in the elections while their country
is under the control of foreign forces?”
he said.
Meanwhile, an Internet posting in the
name of one insurgent group, the Islamic
Army of Iraq, ordered followers to
“escalate their operations to the
maximum” to stop “the infidel elections.”
Its origin could not be authenticated,
but Islamic militants have used the site
to claim responsibility for attacks and to
condemn Iraq’s interim government and
U.S.-led forces in Iraq.
Late Tuesday, people in Fallujah
reported hearing bursts of heavy
automatic weapons fire. The city was an
insurgent stronghold until a U.S. offensive
in November, but the assault did not clear
out all the gunmen and others are believed
to have slipped back with residents in
recent weeks.
i KARIM KADIM/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Iraqi women paste up election posters on a wall in Baghdad. Iraqis
are to choose a 275-member National Assembly and legislatures in
each of the 18 provinces in Sunday’s balloting.
I J STUDENT ORGANIZATION FA] I
I I Want to become involved? The Student Organization Fair is TODAY, l I
■ J Wednesday, January 26, 2005 from 11 am-2pm on Gfeene Street in j I
■ I front of the Russell House. j I I
I STUDENT GOVERNMENT SCHOLARSHIPS I,
Student Government Scholarships are due Wednesday, February 16. H
If you are interested in applying for any of these $500 scholarships, I
stop by 227 Russell House and pick up an application. The scholarships 1
are available to all full-time students. * 1
I J THANKS FOR HELPING KEEP CAROLINA CLEAN | j
I I Student Government would like to thank everyone who came out and | | I
H t participated in the spring kick-off for Clean Carolina. Please remember V j
n I to maintain your space throughout the year, so we can keep Carolina I j