One US Soldier Killed 4 Injured in Fallujah Town

The blast followed the funeral of nine Iraqi security personnel in Fallujah who died in a "friendly fire" tragedy involving US troops.

A group of masked men carrying

RPGs and describing themselves as anti-US resistance forces spoke briefly to reporters, reciting verses from the Koran before issuing a chilling warning.

"We will conduct an operation tonight to avenge the martyrs," one said.

One policeman and eight security guards were also among 12 killed on Friday after US troops opened fire on a high speed police chase.

Three US Soldiers Wounded in Mosul

Three US soldiers in the northern city of Mosul were wounded in an attack by assailants firing a rocket-propelled grenade, the US-led coalition said on Sunday.

US Captain Jeff Fitzgibbons said the three from the 101st Airborne Division were wounded about 9:00 pm (1700 GMT) Saturday in the city 400 kilometers (250 miles) north of Baghdad. He gave no other details of the attack. There was no immediate word on the conditions of the wounded.

The incident came a day after four soldiers were wounded in an attack on a military convoy with an "improvised explosive device" in the town of Hammam al-Alil near Mosul, the military said.

Differences on Iraq have Narrowed Says Powell

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the five veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council narrowed their differences on a new Iraq resolution and he was "encouraged" by the progress. But he also made it plain there still were big gaps with France on how and when to give Iraqis responsibility to govern.

Speaking on Saturday after talks in Geneva mediated by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Powell said he hoped that world leaders would be able to find further agreement in negotiations resuming next week in New York.

"I will leave this meeting encouraged with the points of convergence but also recognizing that there are some difficulties and differences that have to be worked out," Powell said.

"What we are ‘all’ committed … is to put authority back in the hands of the Iraqi people for their own destiny and their own future as fast as is possible but in a responsible way," he said.

Powell arrived in Kuwait early Sunday and will soon be headed to Iraq – where he will become the highest-ranking American official to visit the country since the war.

Powell’s meetings with colleagues from the Security Council were to try to narrow differences over the degree to which the United States should dominate postwar political arrangements in Iraq.

Germany and, in particular, France have criticized the US draft. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said before the Geneva talks that any new UN resolution should contain a timetable putting a provisional Iraqi government in place within a month, followed by a draft constitution by the end of the year and elections next spring.

De Villepin – one of the most persistent opponents of the US war on Iraq – also has criticized US demands for more troops from other countries to help restore peace, saying that simply sending in more soldiers will not satisfy the Iraqi thirst for sovereignty.
Like France, Russia also is demanding a quick timetable for Iraq, although Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov kept a low profile at the Geneva talks, as did Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.