US troops kill son of Iraqi governor

Election panel warns of delay, urges action

BAGHDAD - American Special Operations forces shot to death the son and nephew of the governor of Salahuddin Province during a raid yesterday in the northern city of Bayji, the latest in a series of operations that have resulted in the deaths of civilians or close associates of Iraqi government officials.

The governor, Hamed al-Qaisi, threatened to resign in protest and said he would suspend cooperation with US officials.

The shootings come at a sensitive time in negotiations between US and Iraqi officials over the terms of a new security agreement. The most contentious obstacle has been an Iraqi demand that US troops no longer be immune from Iraqi criminal laws, an ultimatum that Iraqi officials say has been spurred by unwarranted attacks on civilians. A new agreement is needed for US troops to remain in Iraq after a UN mandate expires at the end of the year.

In another development yesterday, Iraq's Independent Electoral Commission disclosed that provincial elections originally planned for October would be delayed by several months.

"The original date of Oct. 1 has become a fantasy, because the parliament hasn't passed an election law yet," a senior election official said last night. "We still hope to have elections by the end of the year."

Iraqi and US officials offered sharply different accounts of the attack yesterday in Bayji, 120 miles north of Baghdad, though the deputy provincial governor said US officials had already apologized to both him and Qaisi, who was traveling in Turkey.

Aides to the governor said US Special Operations forces broke into a house at 3 a.m. and shot and killed the governor's 17-year-old son, Hussam. A spokesman for the governor, Major Muthanna Ibrahim, said Hussam was shot in his head, stomach, and shoulder while he slept.

Hussam's cousin, Uday Khalaf, 23, awoke and tried to push open the door to Hussam's room, but he was also shot and killed by the US troops, Ibrahim said.

The house is owned by Hussam's aunt, who is the mother of one of Hussam's female cousins; Hussam and his cousin had planned to get married soon, Ibahim said.

The deputy Salahuddin governor, Abdullah Jarabah, said there had been at least two other similar attacks in the area by US troops. "These troops usually use excessive force when they conduct operations," he said. The Salahuddin provincial council issued a statement condemning the attack as an indication of "how the American forces disregard the souls of Iraqi citizens."

The governor's son and nephew appeared not to have been the targets of the raid. Instead, the US military command in Baghdad said the house had been raided to capture a "suspected Al Qaeda in Iraq operative" and that a man "identified as the targeted individual charged coalition forces and was injured during the operation."

That suspect, who was not identified, was taken to a military hospital, and another "suspected terrorist" was arrested, according to a military statement. In a statement responding to specific questions about the attack, the military said one of the men who was killed had been armed with an AK-47 automatic rifle and the other had had a pistol.