U.S. To Push Ahead With Iraq Transition Plan

Some key Iraqis may not be on board, but the Bush administration is still going ahead with its plans for transition to Iraqi rule by the end of June.

The plan calls for a legislature to be chosen through regional caucuses. The legislature would then elect a provisional government.

But the leader of Iraq's Shiite Muslims wants the legislature to be elected directly. And another top Shiite complained that Iraq's governing council was pressured into approving the plan too quickly.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States will work with the governing council and the Iraqi people for a smooth transition.

He said the plan will provide for direct elections for a constitutional convention and another election to choose a new government.

Meanwhile, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told NATO allies Monday that the United States would welcome more help in Iraq.

In Brussels, Rumsfeld said the United States is facing a contradiction in Iraq because coalition forces are making progress toward democracy even as deadly attacks continue against soldiers and civilians.

So far, 18 of 26 NATO nations have troops in Iraq. Some European defense ministers suggested that NATO might assume command of a multinational division now led by Poland.

NATO officials also agreed to expand operations in Afghanistan outside the capital of Kabul. Rumsfeld said the United States would like to eventually turn command of multinational forces in Afghanistan over to NATO.

Iraqis Dispute U.S. Account Of Samarra Attack

The U.S. military said 54 Iraqis were killed in the Iraqi city of Samarra as U.S. forces used tanks and cannons to fight their way out of simultaneous ambushes.

But residents in the northern city said Monday that the casualty figure was much lower and that the dead were mostly civilians.

Many residents say U.S. troops were attacked but add that when the force began firing randomly at townspeople, many civilians joined the fight. Many said residents were bitter about recent U.S. raids in the night.

Iraqis say most of those who died were civilians caught up in the battle after U.S. forces targeted civilian installations. A kindergarten was damaged, apparently by tank shells, but no children were hurt.

By the American account, Sunday's fighting was the bloodiest combat reported since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in a U.S.-led invasion. In a Monday morning news conference in Samarra, Col. Frederick Rudesheim said 18 were also wounded and eight captured, adding that five U.S. troops were wounded.

A U.S. military spokesman said attackers, many wearing uniforms of Saddam's Fedayeen paramilitary force, struck at two U.S. convoys at opposite sides of Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad.

Lt. Col. William MacDonald of the 4th Infantry Division said that after barricading a road, attackers opened fire from rooftops and alleyways with bombs, small arms, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.

U.S. troops responded with 120mm tank rounds and 25mm cannon fire from Bradley fighting vehicles, he said.

Rudesheim said the incident began with a "coordinated attack." He said insurgents targeted locations the Americans were known to be going.

Soldier Dies In Convoy Ambush

Another ambush on a U.S. military convoy in Iraq left an American soldier dead Monday.

The military says the convoy was attacked by small arms fire about 50 miles west of Baghdad. It says the soldier was critically injured and evacuated but later died of his wounds.

Three Iraqis who were captured during the attack are being questioned.