IRAQ Convoy attacks kill 2 U.S. soldiers

A tape purportedly by Saddam Hussein calls on the uprising to continue.
MOSUL, Iraq (AP) -- The morning after Saddam Hussein's sons died in a four-hour gunbattle with American forces, hopes their deaths would calm an insurgency were dimmed when a U.S. soldier was killed in an attack on his convoy outside the same town.
The soldier's death was one of two reported today by the U.S. military. Six soldiers were also injured in the attack in Mosul, 240 miles north of Baghdad. In separate violence Tuesday night, a convoy was attacked in Ramadi, 60 miles west of the capital, killing one soldier and wounding two more.
Death toll
The two deaths brought to 155 the number of American soldiers killed since the war began March 20, surpassing by eight the death toll in the 1991 Gulf War.
Also today, a new tape aired by an Arab satellite broadcaster and purportedly made by Saddam on Sunday, called on fighters loyal to him to continue their uprising against the U.S.-led occupation force.
"Yes, this war has not ended. ... The will of the people will not be subdued by the enemy," said the voice purporting to be Saddam.
There was no way to immediately and independently verify it was the former dictator, although it sounded like him.
Commenting on the tape, Saad al-Bazaz, editor of al-Zaman newspaper, who was once close to Saddam, said to Al-Arabiya that the voice was Saddam's.
"Undoubtedly the tape carries Saddam's voice; this is no longer a controversial issue and should not be raised again," he said.
Curses Americans
Across the street from the vast villa where Odai and Qusai Hussein were killed in a joint operation by the 101st Airborne Division and U.S. Special Forces, Seed Badr, 50, a gray-bearded taxi driver wearing a blue Arab robe, cursed the Americans.
"This is terrorism. They are killers."
Asked what he thought of the operation to kill Odai and Qusai, Badr responded: "I think the house was empty."
Some Mosul residents said Mosul's reputation as a safe, quiet place likely drew the brothers to hide out in the villa of a Saddam cousin.
"They probably came here because it's safe. People here don't have any connection with Saddam," said 36-year-old businessman Muhammad Khalil, as he stood outside the remains of the three-story home.
Several dozen U.S. soldiers relaxed in front of the gutted mansion, their weapons mostly pointed toward the ground. There were 12 Humvees and an armored troop carrier, but no Bradley fighting vehicles or tanks.
Bodies removed
The bodies of Odai and Qusai -- long feared by most Iraqis for their roles in the military and intelligence arms of Saddam's brutal dictatorship -- were taken to the Baghdad International Airport base of American forces today to be flown out of the country, U.S. officials said. They would not say why the bodies were being taken out of Iraq or to where.
The mansion in Mosul sits in a neighborhood of sprawling villas and opposite a mosque. A house across the street also was damaged, along with 10 to 12 others nearby.
The Army strung a helix of razor wire around the perimeter of the villa. Outside a few hundred people gathered, chanting: "We sacrifice our blood and souls for you, Saddam" when television cameras arrived.
Asked whether he thought the killings of his sons meant Saddam soon would be found, Khalil said: "One should be close to the other."
Mohammad Ali, 15, said he witnessed the raid, hiding in a nearby alley.
What happened
Four Humvees went to the villa at about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. Soldiers were told the villa owner was not there. He returned shortly afterward and was arrested, Ali said.
Then the Americans blew down a garden gate with a grenade and were pushed back when someone inside threw a grenade at them. Shooting began on both sides and the U.S. forces called in Kiowa helicopters.
Four of them hovered low over the neighborhood and fired rockets into the house. Ali said the entire operation was over by about 1:30 p.m.
He said neighborhood residents protested shortly after, alleging the Americans killed three civilians in the attack. The military has not mentioned the death of any bystanders.
Across Iraq, U.S. soldiers said they hoped guerrilla attacks would diminish, but others feared Saddam remnants might seek revenge.
The Hussein brothers were Nos. 2 and 3 on the U.S. list of most 55 most-wanted from the toppled Saddam regime. Guerrilla holdouts loyal to the regime have been attacking U.S. forces at a rate of about 12 times daily in an effort to wear down the American occupation and drive it from the country.
"If one of my sons was dead, I'd want somebody to pay for it," Sgt. Colin Frederick, a 23-year-old armored scout from Fort Carson, Colo., said while patrolling the dangerous "Sunni Triangle," a bastion of Saddam backers stretching north and west from Baghdad. Most attacks on U.S. forces since the end of the war have been launched in the region.
Iraqis celebrate
Iraqis in Baghdad marked the news of the deaths with celebratory gunfire Tuesday, shooting wildly into the night sky, red tracer bullets screaming skyward. There was no report of any fighting between coalition troops and Iraqis. However, in the midst of the confusion, a U.S. soldier mistakenly shot a man and a girl who was about 6.
As Odai, 39, and Qusai, 37, were discovered in Mosul, a town known for its pro-Saddam attitudes, four coalition soldiers were wounded. Two other Iraqis, including a teenager, were killed. The teen was thought to have been Qusai's son, Mustafa. The other man was believed to have been a bodyguard, U.S. officials said.
Coalition commander Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez said the bodies of Odai and Qusai were positively identified, but said DNA testing would be done. He has not said when the results would be available.
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