IRAQI RESITANCE

Independent: Shootings of three US soldiers mark escalation of resistance

Three American soldiers were killed in separate attacks in Iraq in the last 24 hours amid signs that many Iraqis approve of the killing of the occupying soldiers.

One died in a firefight late last night Sunday after two armed men opened fire on a US Army convoy. In the second incident, insurgents threw a homemade bomb at another convoy early today killing a soldier. Both were from the 1st Armored Division, the Germany-based division which is charged with occupying Baghdad.

In the third incident a soldier was shot in the neck and killed yesterday as he queued to buy a soft drink at Baghdad University. An Iraqi man came up to him and said "Hello mister", drew a pistol from his pocket and fired.

Paul Bremer, the US chief administrator in Baghdad, has blamed remnants of the old regime who are still loyal to Saddam Hussein. He said they were "desperate men" who had no place in the new Iraq.

– very soon – a guerrilla resistance must start. No doubt the Americans will claim that these attacks are "remnants" of Saddam's regime or "criminal elements". But that will not be the case. Robert Fisk, 17. April 2003