Baghdad Car bomb Kills 14 with 3 US Marines
Pakistan Times Monitoring Desk

BAGHDAD (Iraq): A car bomb exploded Tuesday in a town northeast of Baghdad, killing 14 people who were attending a wake for the victims of a previous attack, hospital officials said.

The bombing in Khalis came two days after gunmen fired at a building belonging to a city council official, killing two people and wounding two. Tuesday’s attack targeted the wake for those killed Sunday.

"So far, we’ve received five of the dead," said Dr Nasser Jawad Kadhim, the head of the morgue at Baqouba General Hospital. "Thirty-five of the injured have been hospitalized." Other hospital sources said 13 were killed.

Fierce Fighting at Baqouba

The nearby city of Baqouba was the scene of fierce fighting between American soldiers and insurgents who tried to seize government buildings and police stations only days before power was handed over by US occupation authorities to the interim government June 28.

Guerrillas have been targeting officials who are seen as collaborating with coalition forces.

Also Tuesday, a group of armed, masked Iraqi men threatened to kill Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi if he did not immediately leave the country, accusing him of killing innocent Iraqis and defiling the Muslim religion.

The threats revealed the deep anger many Iraqis feel toward foreign fighters, whom many consider as illegitimate a presence here as the 160,000 troops of the US-led coalition.

Videotape places Queries

In a videotape sent to the al-Arabiya television station, a group calling itself the "Salvation Movement," questioned how al-Zarqawi could use Islam to justify the killing of innocents, the targeting of government officials and the kidnapping and beheading of foreigners.

"He must leave Iraq immediately, he and his followers and everyone who gives shelter to him and his criminal actions," said a man on the video.

It was issued a day after U.S.-led coalition forces, who have been targeting al-Zarqawi, launched an airstrike in the restive city of Fallujah on a suspected safe house used by his followers. The attack killed 15 people, witnesses said.

In the video, three men, their faces covered with Arab headscarves, were flanked by rocket propelled grenades and an Iraqi flag. The man speaking had a clear Iraqi accent.

Optimism about Cpl. Wassef

In Tripoli, Lebanon, the family of a Lebanese-born US marine held hostage in Iraq said it was confident that Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun had been freed and was well, although relatives have not heard directly from him.

"We have received reliable information the guy is free," his brother, Sami, told The Associated Press.

Although he had not spoken with his brother, who was serving as a translator with the US Marines in Iraq when he disappeared June 20, Sami Hassoun said "we received a sign from my brother reassuring us."

He would not elaborate, but said the family received credible information from a person who came to their Tripoli home.

Two Marines Killed

Two US marines were killed in action and one died later from wounds received during an operation in a restive Iraqi province, the US military said.

"Two marines assigned to First M arine Expeditionary Force were killed in action and one marine died of wounds received in action Monday in the Al-Anbar province while conducting security and stability operations," the military said in a statement.

The marines have now lost 10 men in just over one week on various operations around Al-Anbar province, home to the restive city of Fallujah from where US officials suspect alleged Al-Qaeda operative Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi and his supporters are operating.●