Two U.S. soldiers killed; relief group withdraws

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Two more U.S. soldiers were killed in combat Wednesday, and the relief agency Oxfam became the fourth major international organization to pull some or all of its foreign staff out of Iraq because of the increasing danger.

A day after the Aug. 19 suicide truck bombing of the U.N. headquarters, which killed at least 23 people, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund said they were temporarily withdrawing some foreign staff. Many U.N. foreign workers also have left the country for now.

There are dozens of nongovernment aid and support groups working in Iraq, and a senior official of one group said most of the agencies were studying whether to reduce foreign staff, or already had done so.

"Most of them are reducing their staff as much as possible," said Hanno Schaefer, spokesman for Caritas, the Catholic Church relief agency.

Oxfam began withdrawing its 15 international staff members on Monday and completed the move within 48 hours, Simon Springett, Oxfam's program manager for Iraq, told the Associated Press from Amman, Jordan. The Oxford, England-based aid group had been working on water and sanitation projects with UNICEF in Iraq.

"The risk level was becoming unacceptable for us, making it impossible for our programs to operate," Springett said.

He said the bombing at the U.N. headquarters was only one of many factors that lead Oxfam to withdraw its staff.

"We felt international organizations were becoming increasingly targeted," he said. Fifty Iraqi nationals working for Oxfam were to remain in the country.

"I think there's been a blurring of humanitarian and military operations in Iraq," Springett said.

"It's setting a very dangerous precedent."

The two U.S. soldiers killed Wednesday died in separate attacks in Baghdad and a city just to the west, the military reported.

A third soldier was reported to have died separately of a non-hostile gunshot wound.

One soldier was killed and three were wounded in a roadside bombing in Fallujah, 30 miles west of Baghdad. The military said the attack occurred at 7:10 a.m. The dead soldier was from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment, the military said.

The second death came in a roadside bomb attack on a military convoy at 7:45 a.m. in Baghdad. The soldier was with the 205th Military Intelligence Brigade.

The deaths brought to 281 the number of soldiers killed since the war began on March 20. Since President Bush declared major combat over on May 1, 143 U.S. soldiers have died -- five more than during the fighting.

Meanwhile, in northern Iraq, U.S. troops continued raids targeting forces loyal to Saddam Hussein's regime as part of "Operation Ivy Needle," military officials said.

The operation had been going on for two weeks, and included 55 raids that led to the capture of 390 Iraqis, 57 of whom were targeted Saddam loyalists, Baath party members, and Saddam Fedayeen militia, 4th Infantry Division spokeswoman Maj. Josslyn Aberle said.

An Iraqi was killed Wednesday and two U.S. soldiers were wounded after a roadside bomb was detonated outside Baqouba, 42 miles north of Baghdad, the 4th Infantry's Maj. Paul Owen said.

U.S. troops killed one Iraqi near Tikrit Wednesday, 120 miles north of Baghdad, after three men shot at their patrol. The patrol returned fire. There were no U.S. casualties, Aberle said.

Also Wednesday, the U.S.-led civilian administration in Iraq began putting up new wanted posters throughout Iraq that carry the faces of Saddam and sons, Odai and Qusai. The sons' faces are covered with an "x," reminding Iraqis that they were killed by American forces and that a reward of $30 million was paid to the informant who turned in the brothers -- $15 million each.

The poster says the $25 million reward for Saddam still stands as does a $10,000 reward for significant information leading American forces to other most-wanted men from the former regime.