US faces doubt in Iraqi's death

They do, however, agree on the aftermath, another potential setback in US efforts to court support among the crucial constituency of Sadr City. After a shouting match and fight that lasted a few minutes Sunday, a soldier shot Kaabi, the man leading the US-supervised council that runs the slum, which is home to as many as 2 million people. His death left supporters of US efforts grasping for explanations and handed detractors new evidence that tranquility under the occupation is impossible.

"Why would they use force against him?" asked Thamer Hamad, 30, a neighbor who joined the funeral procession yesterday that escorted Kaabi's flag-draped coffin from his home. "He was the representative of this city, and people trusted him."

The fight erupted around noon at the council headquarters as Kaabi, a 28-year-old mechanical engineer who had led the council for more than three months, arrived in his car at council headquarters.

The US military, without referring to Kaabi by name, said in a statement that soldiers had blocked the vehicle from entering the gate, which is blocked by waist-high concrete barriers and rolls of barbed wire. Kaabi got out and argued with the soldiers, it said. He then got back in the car and attempted to drive through the barricade. A soldier reportedly fired a warning shot, and Kaabi got out again. He allegedly fought with the soldier and grabbed at his weapon. At that point, the statement said, another soldier fired two warning shots in the air.

"The driver continued to fight and wrestled the soldier to the ground while attempting to pull the weapon away from the soldier," the statement said. "The other soldier shot the driver in the upper leg."

Iraqi guards, who patrol the entrance with US forces, denied that Kaabi reached for the soldier's gun or tackled him. Several guards who said they witnessed the incident said that Kaabi, known to them for his temper, yelled in English at the soldiers as they tried to search his car. One of the soldiers bumped him with his chest and then pushed him. A shoving match ensued.

The fight lasted a couple of minutes, the guards said, and another soldier fired a warning shot into the air. Seconds later, they said, the same soldier fired another shot that struck the slightly built Kaabi, who died a few hours later at a military hospital.

"They fired the second bullet deliberately, 100 percent," said Jassem Kadhim Abboud, 40, a City Hall employee, who said he saw the incident. "It was killing for the sake of killing. It was not self-defense."

Since last month's bombings of the local headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross and three police stations in Baghdad, US soldiers and their Iraqi colleagues have heightened their precautions at city council buildings, government offices, and other potential targets across the uneasy capital. While US officials insisted yesterday that the shooting of Kaabi remained under investigation, they were clearly worried about the fallout. "We're concerned about how the good people of Iraq view this," said Colonel William Bishop, a civil affairs officer.