Roadside Bomb Explosion Kills American Soldier North of Baghdad - 2004-03-10

A roadside bomb explosion north of Baghdad has killed an American soldier, following a grenade attack that injured seven people in the city of Mosul to the north. A U.S. military spokesperson stated that the American soldier was traveling in a convoy near Baqubah at the time of the bomb explosion. Earlier on Tuesday, Iraqi police indicated that insurgents might have targeted American soldiers by throwing a grenade at a government building in Mosul, with three police officers among the injured in that attack. Meanwhile, officials from the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq say that most of the men detained in connection with last week's deadly attacks on Shia pilgrims in Karbala and Baghdad have been released. Shortly after the attack, American officials blamed foreign fighters, but now they believe that the men who remain in custody are Iraqis. In political developments, leaders of Iraq's Shia majority, including Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, have reiterated their dissatisfaction with amendments to the new interim constitution, believing that this law grants excessive power to the Kurds. The interim constitution is set to be implemented when a transitional Iraqi government takes over on June 30, which will work on a permanent constitution and prepare for elections by January.