Published: February 8, 2009
BAGHDAD — An 8-year-old Iraqi girl was killed Saturday and several other civilians were wounded when gunfire from an American military convoy struck a crowd of Shiite pilgrims traveling to the holy city of Karbala, witnesses and Iraqi officials said.
In a statement on Saturday, the American military said that there had been an accidental discharge of a weapon and that it had reports of two people wounded in Diwaniya, the area in central Iraq where the shooting took place. It said it was starting an investigation, but declined to give any details.
The shooting came at a delicate time for American forces in Iraq, after a security agreement between the United States and Iraq set new ground rules that greatly limit American military actions. When American forces are operating outside their bases, the agreement requires them to consult directly with their Iraqi counterparts.
Iraqi officials have said that the Americans violated the agreement twice in recent weeks by attacking Iraqi criminal suspects without consulting Iraqi forces.
The shooting on Saturday seemed to fall into another category, occurring while the Americans were on an official mission guarding a supply convoy but were not pursuing any Iraqi suspects. While condemned by local officials, it drew a surprisingly muted public response, perhaps a reflection of how rare American military actions are in that part of Iraq.
Although violence has diminished greatly across the country, there were other scattered attacks over the weekend, highlighting the fragility of the security gains.
A bomb in northern Baghdad early Sunday morning killed two people and wounded 11 others as they began their pilgrimage to Karbala, Iraqi officials said. Another explosive device placed in a vehicle in the center of Baghdad wounded two people.
It was unclear how the shooting on Saturday began. Col. Asaad Malek, the commander of a joint American and Iraqi military outpost in Diwaniya, said the Americans had been protecting a convoy of fuel trucks when they stopped to attend to a disabled vehicle.
The road was crowded with pilgrims heading to Karbala, witnesses said. Salah Mon’em, 26, who was wounded, said the patrol had sounded horns to keep the crowds at bay. Before he realized what was happening, he said, “I fell down because of a bullet that hit me.”
Jassim Hassan, a 25-year-old college student, described a scene of chaos and confusion. “I don’t know how all of this happened and I can’t remember a thing, because everything was so fast and sudden,” he said.
After the short burst of gunfire, the 8-year-old girl, Sa’adiya Saddam, collapsed on the ground by her wailing mother, witnesses said.
Her brother, Hussein, also 8, said: “We didn’t notice the Americans before the gun shooting started. My sister fell immediately, swimming in her own blood.”
Colonel Malek said the Americans had sent a representative to apologize to the victim’s family and had begun the process of compensation.
On Sunday, a trial date was set for the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at President Bush during his farewell visit to Iraq in December. The journalist, Muntader al-Zaidi, 29, was charged with assaulting a foreign leader. His trial is set to begin on Feb. 19, a spokesman for the court said.
Lawyers for the journalist had tried to get a reduction in the charges stemming from the episode, which made him a folk hero in much of the Arab world and beyond. In setting a trial date, however, Iraq’s top court, the Higher Federal Court, let the most serious charges stand. If convicted, he could face as many as 15 years in prison.
His trial could become an important test of Iraq’s evolving judicial system. It is not clear how much of his trial, if any, will be open to the public.
A brother of Mr. Zaidi’s, Maytham al-Zaidi, said he was surprised and disappointed by the decision. “I am scared now,” he said in a telephone interview. “The Higher Federal Court was our only hope. Now it looks like the Iraqi government is insisting on sending him to jail for the longest time.”
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, whose party made significant gains in provincial elections on Jan. 31, has stepped up his outreach to a number of former members of the government of Saddam Hussein. The prime minister has promised them safe passage should they return to Iraq, and the possibility of government jobs or pensions.
The move represents a significant effort to repair the breach with former members of Mr. Hussein’s Baath Party, who have been largely excluded from the Iraqi government.
Steven Lee Myers contributed reporting from Baghdad, and Imad al-Khozay from Diwaniya.
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