Bomb on road wounds 5 Iraqis

A new Olympic panel will quash Odai Hussein's legacy of athlete torture.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- A roadside bomb exploded today in a central Iraqi city, wounding five Iraqis, a day after thousands of Shiite Muslims protested in the south to demand the U.S.-appointed provincial governor's resignation.
The protest by some 10,000 people in the town of Nasiriyah was the latest sign of the growing empowerment of Iraq's majority Shiites, who were repressed for decades by Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime.
Sunni insurgents loyal to the captured dictator are blamed for much of the ongoing violence in the country, such as Wednesday's suicide van bombing in an upscale Baghdad neighborhood.
Sunni Triangle
Today's bombing occurred in Baqouba, in the volatile Sunni Triangle north and west of the capital. The bomb, which was placed on a road near a sports stadium, exploded during the morning rush hour, Iraqi police Capt. Mohammed Saleh said. Details on the five victims were not immediately available.
The violence and the wider Shiite demands for early general elections have become the biggest headaches for the U.S.-led coalition administration as it nears a self-imposed deadline to hand over power to an unelected Iraqi government July 1.
"No to Israel! No to imperialism! No to America!" the crowd chanted in Nasiriyah, about 215 miles southeast of Baghdad, demanding that provincial governor Sabri al-Roumaith step down.
Coalition officials said the governor left his office to defuse tensions after failing to placate the crowd but did not resign.
Protest leader
The protest was led by Muqtada al-Sadr, a rival of Iraq's most influential Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani.
Still, the crowd echoed al-Sistani's position that unelected officials have no authority, carrying signs reading "No to appointments, yes to elections."
Italian troops in Nasiriyah did not intervene. The city was the site of a Nov. 12 suicide bombing at the headquarters of Italy's paramilitary police that killed more than 30 people, including 19 Italians.
Tens of thousands of Shiites have held protests in various cities in Iraq this month to support al-Sistani's refusal to accept a U.S. plan to select a transitional government through an interim legislature chosen in regional caucuses before the planned July 1 handover of power.
He is demanding direct elections, but Washington cites the ongoing violence and the lack of electoral roles as a reason to delay elections until 2005.
U.N. team
A United Nations team arrived Tuesday in Baghdad to determine whether it was safe for another U.N. team to come to Iraq to study prospects for early elections.
It is hoped that the team's decision would end the deadlock between Washington and the Shiites. Al-Sistani has indicated that he will respect a U.N. decision.
U.S. officials have warned that attacks by insurgents will increase in the run-up to the July handover. This was demonstrated by the Baghdad suicide bombing, the second in the capital less than two weeks.
Sports fans
Meanwhile, Iraq welcomed some good news for its sports fans.
Today, Iraqi sports officials were electing a new National Olympic Committee, which for years was headed by Saddam's son, Odai, who reportedly punished athletes with torture. The election was being held in the northern resort town of Dukan.
Ahmed al-Sammarai, a former star athlete and a former army general, is expected to be named president of NOC. Al-Sammarai returned to Iraq last year after 20 years of exile.
The International Olympic Committee suspended the Iraqi NOC on May 17, 2003 after the fall of Saddam's regime in April in line with the Olympic Charter to allow its restructuring.
Oil money bribes
Also today, Mahmoud Othman, Iraq's U.S.-appointed governing council member, said the Oil Ministry has been asked to gather information on allegations that Saddam's regime bribed prominent foreigners with oil money to back his regime.
Othman said a judicial probe may follow after information has been gathered by the ministry, but no formal investigation has been launched yet.