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Nation & World News Prison attack kills 22 captives in Iraq Tuesday’s attacks, which wounded 92 others, were called ‘puzzling’ by U.S. officials and military By Carol Rosenberg Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) BAGHDAD, Iraq — Arab insur gents fired a fusillade of mortars on the coalition-controlled Abu Ghraib Prison on Tuesday, killing 22 Iraqi captives held in razor-wire-ringed tent camps and wounding 92 others. The attack was puzzling to U.S. military commanders, who consider the 4,400 so-called "security de tainees" to be anti-American insur gents, some of whom are suspected of launching similar mortar and missile attacks. Marines helped evacuate wound ed prisoners. Twenty-five of the most seriously injured were taken by heli copter to two U.S. military field hos pitals, one of which is inside the Green Zone, which houses coalition headquarters. U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kim mitt, deputy commander of opera tions, said the attackers may have in tended to hit their comrades either to trigger an uprising or to intimidate them against cooperating with their interrogators. "Our guys scratch their heads and say, 'Why would they be shelling their own people, killing their own peo ple?'" Kimmitt said several hours after the attack. In all, 18 mortar rounds slammed into the prison compound, which, until little over a year ago, served as a torture and execution center for Sad dam Hussein's regime. The com pound has come under frequent mor tar attack since U S. officials reopened it last year. Tuesday's was the heaviest mortar barrage yet at AbuGhraib, and it came on the same day that Marines institut ed several goodwill gestures to try to restore order in the Sunni Muslim city ofFallujah. Also on Tuesday, another American soldier died in a guerrilla ambush on a U.S. military column. A bomb ex ploded under a convoy west of the northern Iraqi town of Mosul in the morning, wounding five Task Force Olympia soldiers, one of whom died at a combat support hospital. In Fallujah, U.S. forces waiting for insurgents to surrender their weapons eased a nighttime curfew by two hours and let about 50 fami lies who'd fled the battles between Marines and insurgents return to their homes. Fighting has raged off and on in the city of 250,000 throughout the month. Marines laid siege to the dty in their bid to smoke out an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 resistance fighters, thought to in clude Saddam loyalists and Arab for eigners. A group of Sunni Muslim sheiks have tried to mediate through talks with civic leaders in Fallujah, Iraqi Governing Council members and other coalition contacts. "We are very serious about a peace ful resolution. But everybody must recognize that, in the absence of a true cease-fire, major hostilities will return on short notice," said Senior Coali tion Advisor Dan Senor. The relief measures are expected to include safe passage for people from Fallujah to bury their dead in a huge cemetery in Abu Ghraib. They are now believed to be interred in a soc cer field in the city. The shaky cease-fire seemed to be holding. Marines came under fire from Fallujah only once overnight Monday, commanders said, and the coalition is trying to return Iraqi po lice to their city posts. An uncertain standoff also seemed to hold in the southern Shiite Muslim city of Najaf, where the U.S. military reported no overnight attacks on coalition forces by Mahdi Army mili tiamen loyal to Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr. Coalition forces are on the outskirts of the shrine city, while Mah di Army forces still dominate there and in adjacent Kufa. An Iraqi mediator was bound for Baghdad on Tuesday night to brief U.S. authorities on a day-long meet ing with al-Sadr, and there was a hopeful sign: On Tuesday night, Al Sadr aides canceled a daily news conference which has become a platform to air anti-American griev ances, suggesting there may be progress in the talks between U.S. authorities and al-Sadr. While determined to arrest al Sadr and disband his militia, Ameri can military commanders are eager to avoid bloodshed in the holy Shi ite city. They pulled back some of their 2,500 3rd Brigade Task Force troops on Tuesday and camped out side, awaiting more forces due by the weekend. (c) 2004, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson contributed to this report from Najaf, Iraq. Despite Iraq news, Bush leads Kerry in polls Two separate polls show a lead in numbers for the President over Sen. John Kerry and Ralph Nader By Steven Thomma Knight Ridder Newspapers (KRT) WASHINGTON — Despite weeks of bad news about Iraq and questions about whether he should've done more to avert the Sept. 11 terrorist at tacks, President Bush has regained a lead over Democratic rival John Kerry and has improved his standing on is sues from war to education. Doubts about the war have grown and still could hurt Bush's chances for re-election. But two new inde pendent polls this week found that the president has gained versus Ker ry on every major issue, is preferred over Kerry to handle the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism, and would defeat the Massachusetts senator if the election were today. By themselves, the polls are only snapshots of an ever-changing cam paign. But they do reveal two major political forces at work this spring: Bush's ability to retain support at a time of war losses and his initial, ad driven success at defining Kerry as an unworthy alternative. The president leads Kerry 48 per cent to 43 percent among registered voters, with third-party candidate Ralph Nader at 6 percent, according to an ABC-Washington Post survey. Bush leads 50 percent to 44 percent among likely voters, with Nader at 4 percent, according to a Gallup poll for CNN and USA Today. In a memo to reporters Tuesday, Kerry pollster Mark Mellman and aide Tom Kiley dismissed the polls. They noted that an average of four recent polls showed the president and Kerry tied. "Polls fluctuate often in meaning less ways," they said. "More impor tant than the day-to-day changes in the horserace are the underlying dy namics of the race. ... (The) race re mains essentially tied. Beneath the surface, the data continue to contain ominous signs for President Bush." The new numbers came amid im ages of anti-American violence in Iraq and new questions at home about whether Bush could have or should have done more to prevent the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The percentage of Americans call ing the Iraq war a mistake has swelled from 16 percent a year ago to 46 percent, according to die ABC Washington Post poll. The same poll found that 45 percent of Amer icans approve of the way the presi dent is handling Iraq, while 54 per cent disapprove. The number of Americans listing war and terrorism as top concerns jumped between March and April, suggesting a potential problem for Bush. He has made war the keystone of his re-election bid. The number of Americans listing the economy as their top concern dropped, though the issue remained number one on the national agenda. Bush aides said they were confi dent that a new book by Washing ton Post Assistant Managing Editor Bob Woodward about the presi dent's stewardship of the war also would help Bush's standing if read in full. They said it showed the presi dent as engaged, thoughtful and de liberative before the war, and they noted that the Bush campaign Web site, www.georgebush.com, puts the book, "Plan of Attack," at the top of its suggested reading list. James Kuhnhenn, traveling with Kerry in Florida, contributed to this report, (c) 2004, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services. GENUINE BACK' FRAMES CANTEENS FIRST AID KITS POISON OAK SOAP MOSQUITTO NETS BACK FROM TO $299“ Action Surplus 4251 Franklin Blvd, Eugene 746-1301 NATIONAL POETRY MONTH APRIL 2004 UNIVERSITY OF OREGON BOOKSTORE ©2003. Paid for by the United States An uuLIsa OO j$~qA£-Lj ^jjJI yj A-u^JU» 4jLUI If you speak Arabic, this is your chance to start a career as an Army Linguist. This experience will help prepare you for a future in business, ' government agencies, embassy work and more! You’ll also get English training (if needed) and receive quick advancement in rank. 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