U.S. helicopter shot down during raid

Saddam Hussein refused to enter a plea during his trial.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Insurgents shot down a U.S. helicopter during a raid against al-Qaida militants south of Baghdad and killed two soldiers, bringing the weekend death toll of American service members to seven, the U.S. military said Monday.
The military also said American forces killed more than 40 militants, including an al-Qaida operative, in five raids south of Baghdad in an area commonly known as the "Triangle of Death" because of the large number of insurgent attacks.
The U.S. hopes a national unity government that includes Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds will sap the insurgency's strength, but Iraqi politicians struggled against a deadline to form such a government. And with at least 20 Iraqis killed in roadside bombings and drive-by shootings Monday, sectarian violence showed no signs of letting up.
The helicopter was downed after a U.S. operation in Youssifiyah, about 12 miles south of Baghdad. The Mujahedeen Shura Council, a coalition of insurgent groups that includes al-Qaida in Iraq, claimed responsibility in a statement posted on the Internet.
Others killed
Other Americans killed over the weekend included two U.S. Marines who died Sunday during unspecified "enemy action" in Anbar province, the area of western Iraq that is the heart of the Sunni-led insurgency. Two soldiers died Sunday in a roadside bomb attack in Baghdad, and another died in a roadside bomb in the capital Saturday.
The five U.S. raids south of Baghdad resulted in the killing of an al-Qaida militant blamed for an April 1 attack in the same area that downed a U.S. Apache helicopter and killed two soldiers.
An al-Qaida group had claimed responsibility for downing the Apache and posted a gruesome video on the Internet showing men dragging the burning body of what appeared to be an American soldier across a field as they shouted "Allahu akbar!" or "God is great!"
Saddam's trial
A defiant Saddam Hussein refused to enter a plea Monday, insisting he was still Iraq's president as the judge formally charged him with crimes against humanity, including murder and torture of women and children.
As stipulated by Iraqi law, the charges were announced as the defense began making its case in the nearly 7-month-old trial.
Chief judge Raouf Abdel-Rahman called Saddam and his seven co-defendants into the court one by one to read the charges against them in a crackdown against Shiites in the 1980s. He listed the names of 17 people who died from torture during interrogation or from harsh prison conditions.
Saddam, the first to be called, sat alone in the defendants' pen listening silently. When Abdel-Rahman asked for his plea, he stood behind the podium and traded shouts with the judge, who tried to limit him to a one-word answer.
"Your honor, you gave a long report. That report can't be summed up by saying guilty or not," Saddam said. "Your honor is now before Saddam Hussein, the president of Iraq. ... I am the president of Iraq by the will of the Iraqis, and I remain president of Iraq up to this moment."
Abdel-Rahman entered a plea of innocent for Saddam.
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