Gunmen raid police station south of Baghdad in fourth such attack against security forces this week

Monday, June 7th 2004, 6:10 am

By: News On 6

YUSUFIYAH, Iraq (AP) _ Gunmen stormed a police station south of Baghdad, drove off the poorly armed police and blew up the building Friday in the fourth such attack against Iraqi security installations over the last week, officials and witnesses said.

A prominent Sunni Muslim cleric, meanwhile, expressed disappointment with the recent U.N. resolution endorsing the transfer of power to the Iraqis and he called for a complete end to the American presence here.

Police in this Euphrates river town, 10 miles south of Baghdad, called for help from American forces when they came under attack. But the Americans didn't reach the town until about five hours after the attack, police Lt. Sattar Abdul-Reda.

Abdul-Reda said the attackers arrived in seven cars, surrounded the station and opened fire with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades. The 10 policemen inside were armed only with Kalashnikov rifles and pistols and fled the station after realizing they were outgunned, Abdul-Reda said.

The gunmen entered the building, rigged it with explosives and blew it up, the lieutenant said.

It was the fourth attack on police stations across the country in the past week. On June 5, gunmen killed seven policemen before blowing up the police station in Musayyib. The following day, gunmen believed loyal to radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr blasted a police station in the Sadr City area of Baghdad. Al-Sadr's followers overran a police station Thursday in Najaf and ransacked the building.

The attacks on police stations occurred as the U.S.-run occupation authority plans to hand over greater responsibility to Iraqi forces ahead of the June 30 transfer of sovereignty. U.S. officials acknowledge that the Iraqis lack sufficient training and equipment to handle the job without considerable U.S. and allied support after the transfer.

In Baghdad, meanwhile, a car bomb exploded on a highway in the Sayediya district as a U.S. patrol passed nearby. Two U.S. Humvees were slightly damaged, but no U.S. casualties were confirmed.

Elsewhere, the U.S. command said an American soldier died of wounds suffered in an ambush in eastern Baghdad. Four other soldiers were wounded in the Wednesday night attack. More than 820 U.S. service members have died since the Iraq conflict began March 2003.

Tensions remained high in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, scene of armed clashes Thursday between police and Shiite radicals in which six Iraqis died.

Hundreds of protesters marched Friday toward the Imam Ali Shrine to express support for a peace plan, but supporters of al-Sadr blocked their way and fights broke out between the two groups. The shrine was evacuated and its doors closed as a security precaution, witnesses said.

The fighting in Najaf was the first since a truce mediated by Shiite clerics and politicians ended eight weeks of clashes between U.S. troops and al-Sadr's al-Mahdi Army militia.

Al-Mahdi Army fighters remained in their positions around the city's main mosque Friday, inspecting cars and checking identification papers. But no weapons were in sight.

U.S. troops refused to intervene because the fighting was too close to Shiite shrines and it was unclear whether al-Sadr was trying to subvert the truce. Al-Sadr aides said the fighting began when relatives of a man killed by police sought revenge.

American forces are trying to lower their profile in Iraq and hand over more responsibility in advance of the restoration of Iraqi sovereignty June 30. The transfer plan won international endorsement Tuesday when the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a U.S.-British blueprint for post-occupation Iraq.

Lt. Gen. Thomas F. Metz, who took command of the new Multinational Corps Iraq headquarters last month, said Thursday the military was changing its focus from fighting guerrillas to training Iraqi troops and protecting the fragile interim government.

But in a sermon Friday, Dr. Mohammed Bashar al-Faidhi, a spokesman for the Sunni-run Association of Muslim Scholars, denounced the resolution for permitting the continued presence of American and other foreign forces.

``We cannot trust the occupation forces after all their lies,'' al-Faidhi said. ``We cannot imagine people getting freedom and sovereignty with the presence of 150,000 soldiers stationed on their land. We cannot expect any success for any political process under the thumb of the occupation, whether as the Governing Council or interim government.''

Al-Faidhi said the U.S. presence in Iraq ``is completely rejected by all Iraqis'' and that the Iraqi people ``will not accept an American embassy or military bases.''

Assailants fired rocket-propelled grenades Thursday night at coalition troops near the Shiite city of Hillah about 60 miles south of Baghdad. Polish officials said no casualties were reported and the attackers fled when troops returned fire.

Polish Lt. Col. Robert Strzelecki wouldn't divulge the nationality of the coalition troops involved but soldiers from Poland, Bulgaria, Lithuania and Latvia operate in the area.

Separately, the Dutch Cabinet decided Friday to extend the stay of its 1,400 troops in Iraq for eight months but said they could be withdrawn early if asked by the Iraqis or if faced with overwhelming violence.

In Seoul, the South Korean government said it would send 3,600 troops to a Kurdish area of northern Iraq in August despite pressure to reconsider the long-delayed deployment.