US Investigating Shooting of Two Iraqi Women
    By Christine Hauser
    The New York Times

    Wednesday 31 May 2006

    The American military said today that it was investigating the deaths of two Iraqi women who were apparently shot by coalition forces when their car approached an observation post in a city north of Baghdad and failed to stop.

    The military said in a statement that it had been told by the Iraqi police that the two women, passengers in the car, died later of gunshot wounds.

    The military statement said one of the women may have been pregnant. The woman's brother, who was wounded by the gunfire, confirmed that she was pregnant and said he had been rushing her to the hospital in Samarra when the shooting occurred, The Associated Press reported.

    "A local national sedan entered a clearly marked prohibited area near coalition troops at an observation post," the military statement said. "As the vehicle neared the troop location and failed to stop despite repeated visual and auditory signals, disabling shots were fired into the vehicle. The vehicle stopped, changed direction, and quickly departed the area."

    An Iraqi police official, Col. Laith Mohammed, said that Nabiha Nisaif Jassim, 35, and her cousin Saliha Mohammad Hassan were killed by American forces, The Associated Press reported.

    Ms. Jassim's brother, Khalid Jassim, told The AP, "I was driving my car at full speed because I did not see any sign or warning from the Americans." He said that American forces had blocked off a side road two weeks ago but that news about the observation post had been slow to filter out to rural areas, The AP said.

    The statement on the shooting comes after the American military launched an investigation into deaths of Iraqi civilians in the city of Haditha. Survivors have accused American marines of the unprovoked shootings of at least 24 men, women and children in three homes in Haditha after a roadside bombing nearby killed a marine. Marines who were present have said that the civilians were killed in the bombing, but a senior military official in Iraq said that among the evidence that conflicted with the marines' story were death certificates that showed all the Iraqi victims had gunshot wounds, mostly to the head and chest.

    The Iraqi prime minister, Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, said in an interview published by Reuters on Tuesday that Iraqi officials would investigate the killings of the civilians in Haditha last November, and might seek to punish those guilty of wrongdoing.

    Today's American military statement about the deaths of the two women near the observation post said that another woman was wounded in a separate shooting in Baiji, under similar circumstances, when her vehicle approached an Iraqi army checkpoint and did not stop.

    "The loss of life in these incidents is regrettable, and coalition forces go to great lengths to avoid them," the American military statement said. "There are a number of rehearsed operating procedures in place, and investigations are being conducted to determine the details surrounding these two incidents."

    American commanders in Iraq are taking steps intended to lessen the chance for violent confrontations between their troops and innocent Iraqis while operating checkpoints, senior military officers said this month, for example, by using strobe lights at the posts.

    Haditha and Samarra are among Iraq's most dangerous areas.

    Also today, Mr. Maliki said that the priority of the new government of national unity will be to restore security, using an "iron fist" if necessary, and to end sectarian strife so that Iraq can commence with rebuilding and improving services.

    Mr. Maliki's remarks were carried on television during his visit to Basra, the largest city in Iraq's Shiite south. Basra had long been one of the quietest areas for coalition forces, but over the past year it has become more deadly as the city's many Shiite militias have vied for power. Mr. Maliki declared a state of emergency for one month, Reuters reported.

    "It is the responsibility of the government to provide security, as this is the major challenge it faces in this time," Mr. Maliki said. Without security, he said, "we will not be able to talk about the reconstruction, building, prosperity, and good living, because the terrorists want to derail the reconstruction movement by targeting the infrastructure."

    He added: "We will strike with an iron fist on all gangs that are manipulating security, and we will ask the security apparatus to set an active plan soon to improve security to the level that gives the citizens peace of mind. "Since taking office this month, Mr. Maliki has emphasized that he is determined to crack down on militias, take charge of security issues and stop sectarian violence. He said last week in Baghdad that his government would employ "maximum levels of force" in confronting terrorists.

    While Mr. Maliki is seeking to assert himself as a strong leader, he has not yet been able to fill two crucial posts in his new cabinet, the ministers of the interior and of defense.

    The failure so far to find nominees who are acceptable to all elements of his coalition, which includes Shiite, Kurdish, Sunni Arab and secular members, continues to underscore the fragility of Mr. Maliki's new government in the face of a resilient insurgency.

    Still, Mr. Maliki said today that his government now represents "all Iraqi people" without discrimination.

    Though efforts to include Sunni Arabs in the new government have succeeded, they have yet to diminish the Sunni-dominated insurgency in Iraq, which appears to be advancing in the western part of the country.