5 die in attacks on citizens who back American efforts

U.S. forces want to show the effectiveness of their firepower, a general said.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- An explosion at the offices of a Kurdish political party in the northern town of Kirkuk killed four people today, and officials said a pro-U.S. politician was assassinated in the southern port city of Basra, the latest in a string of attacks against Iraqis who support American efforts in Iraq.
Jalal Johar, an official with the party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, said several other people were injured in the blast, which he attributed to a bomb. All the casualties were civilians, he said.
The PUK is a group that supports American efforts in Iraq. Party chief Jalal Talabani is the current head of the U.S.-installed Iraqi Governing Council.
Nobody claimed responsibility, but insurgents have warned they will target anyone who collaborates with occupation authorities.
Council member abducted
In Basra, the Assyrian Democratic Movement said its representative on the municipal council was abducted Tuesday on his way to work. The body of Sargoun Nanou Murado was found Wednesday, a statement said.
The Assyrian Democratic Movement, which represents Iraq's Assyrian minority, is represented on the 25-seat governing council.
The assassination is the second this week of people working with coalition authorities in southern Iraq. In the town of Diwaniyah, gunmen killed Tuesday the education ministry's director general for that province.
In yet another attack aimed at a U.S. ally, two people were killed late Wednesday when a car bomb exploded outside the home of Sheik Amer Ali Suleiman, a tribal leader in Ramadi, hospital workers said today.
Suleiman is a leader of the Duleim tribe, one of the largest Sunni Muslim tribes in Iraq. He is a member of the city council and is close to the Americans.
Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad, is part of the "Sunni Triangle," where anti-U.S. attacks are concentrated. Rebels repeatedly have attacked police stations and Iraqis perceived to be cooperating with the occupation.
In Baghdad, two gunmen opened fire before dawn today outside the new Jordanian Embassy, killing an Iraqi security guard, police said. Iraqi police officer Hatim Abdul-Karim said it happened about 5 a.m. in the city's Ma'amoun district. He said witnesses told police two attackers opened fire and fled.
The Jordanians moved to the new chancellery after the Aug. 7 car-bombing at their former Embassy building killed at least 19 people, including two children.
American offensive
Meanwhile, an American general said Wednesday the offensive against suspected insurgent targets in central and northern Iraq was to intimidate the guerrillas by "planting the seeds of doubt in their minds" that they can ever overcome U.S. power.
Brig. Gen. Martin Dempsey said the offensive was designed to demonstrate the effectiveness of U.S. firepower.
"We felt that the enemy had begun to act with a little more impunity than we want him to have," said Dempsey, whose troops are responsible for security in the capital.
In northern Iraq, U.S. officers said that 161 people "suspected of anti-coalition activities" were detained Wednesday. They included a member of Ansar al-Islam, an Islamic extremist group believed to have links to Al-Qaida, the military said today.
Some 500 soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division took part in Wednesday's operations, which also led to the discovery of 49 AK-47s, four machine guns and other weapons.
In recent days, U.S. forces have used heavy artillery, battle tanks, attack helicopters, F-16 fighter-bombers and AC-130 gunships to pound targets in central and northern Iraq.
Some senior U.S. officers privately expressed fears that people in Iraq and the Arab world will see the escalation of attacks against insurgents as no different from Israeli crackdowns on the Palestinians.
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