Associated Press
Major developments in Iraq on Friday:
_The number of American troops wounded in Iraq soared in the past two weeks as the insurgency flared in south-central Iraq and in the Sunni Triangle north and west of Baghdad. The Pentagon announced in its weekly casualty report that 3,864 troops have been wounded in action since the war began in March 2003, an increase of 595 from two weeks earlier.
_Police arrested five Iraqis believed linked to al-Qaida and suspected in this week's suicide bombings in Basra, and the men led police to a stash of 20 tons of explosives, a police intelligence chief said.
_The United States will push for a U.N. resolution to authorize more peacekeeping troops in Iraq once U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan approves his envoy's plan for an interim government there, Secretary of State Colin Powell told a Dutch broadcaster.
_Denmark's defense minister resigned as lawmakers questioned military intelligence reports the government used to justify its support for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Denmark has nearly 500 troops in Basra and nearby Qurnah, 250 miles southeast of Baghdad.
_Bulgarian troops will continue serving in Iraq despite renewed attacks in city of Karbala, where a sixth Bulgarian soldier was killed, parliament's foreign policy committee said.
_Spain's new prime minister told President Bush last month that the U.S. war on terrorism "isn't hitting the mark," he said in a newspaper interview. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero also said he decided to remove Spain's troops early from Iraq after a top U.S. official stated American soldiers would only take orders from their own commanders, and not from the United Nations.
_Troops from the Dominican Republic will start returning from Iraq the first week of May, Gen. Jose Miguel Soto Jimenez announced just days after he said the 302 soldiers stationed there would be pulled out.
Major developments in Iraq on Friday:
_The number of American troops wounded in Iraq soared in the past two weeks as the insurgency flared in south-central Iraq and in the Sunni Triangle north and west of Baghdad. The Pentagon announced in its weekly casualty report that 3,864 troops have been wounded in action since the war began in March 2003, an increase of 595 from two weeks earlier.
_Police arrested five Iraqis believed linked to al-Qaida and suspected in this week's suicide bombings in Basra, and the men led police to a stash of 20 tons of explosives, a police intelligence chief said.
_The United States will push for a U.N. resolution to authorize more peacekeeping troops in Iraq once U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan approves his envoy's plan for an interim government there, Secretary of State Colin Powell told a Dutch broadcaster.
_Denmark's defense minister resigned as lawmakers questioned military intelligence reports the government used to justify its support for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq. Denmark has nearly 500 troops in Basra and nearby Qurnah, 250 miles southeast of Baghdad.
_Bulgarian troops will continue serving in Iraq despite renewed attacks in city of Karbala, where a sixth Bulgarian soldier was killed, parliament's foreign policy committee said.
_Spain's new prime minister told President Bush last month that the U.S. war on terrorism "isn't hitting the mark," he said in a newspaper interview. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero also said he decided to remove Spain's troops early from Iraq after a top U.S. official stated American soldiers would only take orders from their own commanders, and not from the United Nations.
_Troops from the Dominican Republic will start returning from Iraq the first week of May, Gen. Jose Miguel Soto Jimenez announced just days after he said the 302 soldiers stationed there would be pulled out.
