IRAQ Attackers with 2 grenades wound 7 U.S. soldiers

Earlier, soldiers had fired on anti-American demonstrators after someone in the crowd shot at them.
FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) -- Attackers lobbed two grenades into a U.S. Army compound today, wounding seven soldiers just hours after the Americans had fired on Iraqi protesters in the street outside, a U.S. intelligence officer reported.
The attack -- the latest in a series of clashes and deadly shootings involving U.S. troops in Fallujah -- came as President Bush prepared to address to the American public from a homeward-bound aircraft carrier, declaring that major combat in Iraq is finished.
None of the injuries to soldiers of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment in Fallujah was life-threatening, said Capt. Frank Rosenblatt.
Troops open fire
The troops inside the walled compound -- a former police station -- opened fire on men fleeing the area, but no one was captured or believed hit, said Rosenblatt, whose 82nd Airborne Division is handing over control of Fallujah to the Armored Cavalry. Officers said the attackers' identities were unknown.
The attack, at 1 a.m. today, came after soldiers in the compound and in a passing Army convoy opened fire Wednesday on anti-American demonstrators massed outside. Local hospital officials said two Iraqis were killed and 18 wounded.
American officers said that barrage was provoked when someone fired on the convoy from the crowd.
Wednesday's march was to protest earlier bloodshed Monday night, when 16 demonstrators and bystanders were killed and more than 50 wounded, according to hospital counts. In that clash, an 82nd Airborne company, whose members said they were being shot at, fired on a protest outside a school occupied by U.S. soldiers.
Some Fallujah residents said they had heard relatives of victims vow to avenge Wednesday's shootings -- and many in the city have declared they want the American troops to leave.
Brig. Gen. Dan Hahn, the Army V Corps chief of staff, said U.S. forces had solid intelligence that the "bad actors" in Fallujah were members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party who were using crowds as cover during demonstrations. Many Iraqis were members of the party, and membership was required for many jobs.
"The people in the city want to get rid of this problem. We have people in the city coming up to tell us who the bad actors are," Hahn said. "In every instance, our soldiers have shown discipline and restraint."
In the future, he said, tear gas and other riot control measures might be used to quash violent demonstrations.
City benefited from Saddam
Fallujah, a city of 200,000 people 30 miles west of Baghdad, benefited more than most Iraqi towns from Saddam's regime.
The regime built chemical and other factories that generated jobs for Fallujah's workers and wealth for its businessmen. Many of its young men joined elite regime forces such as the Republican Guard and Special Republican Guard.
U.S. military officials met Wednesday with local religious and clan leaders on the security situation.
"We asked the commanding officers for an investigation and for compensation for the families of the dead and injured," said Taha Bedaiwi al-Alwani, the new, U.S.-recognized mayor of Fallujah.
Al-Alwani and other Iraqis also asked that U.S. troops be redeployed outside the city center.
Worried about women
Residents told reporters they were troubled by soldiers looking at Fallujah women, and some believed the Americans' goggles or binoculars could "see" through curtains or clothing.
Despite the clashes in Fallujah, senior U.S. military officers in Baghdad said the overall situation in Iraq is improving.
"If you look at the country as a whole, it is stable," said Hahn. However, he said the massive amount of arms and ammunition being uncovered daily across Iraq posed a major problem.
"The entire country is almost like an ammunitions and weapons dump. And they've placed them in places you would not expect," he said. " There are weapons here from every country in the world that makes weapons."
Arms found
In the northern city of Mosul, 153 arms caches had already been found, one containing 1.2 million mortar rounds and 65,000 artillery shells. Some 150 arms and ammunition sites have been discovered in Baghdad, officials said.
In a radio broadcast today, the commander of U.S. ground forces in Iraq urged citizens to help move the country forward by going back to work, stopping looting and cooperating to improve postwar security.
Lt. Gen. David McKiernan made the statement through Information Radio, the U.S.-led coalition's radio station, which is being broadcast across Iraq.
"I call for putting an end to all acts of sabotage and criminal acts, including plundering, looting and attacking coalition forces," he said in remarks read by an announcer in Arabic. "I also expect the support and backup of Iraqis to restore stability in their country."
The coalition-run radio has been running frequent announcements exhorting Iraqis to accept U.S. forces, and warning any foreign fighters in Iraq to leave or face arrest.
McKiernan also said that any checkpoints not supervised by coalition forces are unauthorized.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld strode through Saddam's Abu Ghurayb North palace in Baghdad on Wednesday and told Iraqis their country was theirs to run.
Amid meetings with American commanders, Rumsfeld taped a reassuring message for the Iraqi people.
"Iraq belongs to you," he said, his words broadcast on radio and television. "The coalition has no intention of owning or running Iraq."
Later, at a rally with cheering U.S. and British troops, Rumsfeld said the Bush administration is pressing other countries to turn over Iraqi fugitives.
The defense secretary was headed today to Afghanistan to review the situation in that country, which is still trying to recover from war.
Artifacts confiscated
In Jordan, a government official said customs officers searching travelers leaving Iraq have confiscated dozens of artworks and archaeological items that may have been stolen from the National Museum in Baghdad and Saddam's palaces.
Khalaf al-Hazaymeh, deputy director of the Customs Department, said the objects were found with travelers arriving at the Iraqi-Jordanian border. No arrests were made because officials must first determine if the items were stolen or legitimately purchased, he said.
Items seized included a warrior's helmet, seven statues, 11 carpets, 43 paintings, two old manuscripts, 26 historical books, a family album belonging to Saddam, and three copper pots engraved with the names of Shiite Muslim imams.