An American civilian, who worked for a company tasked with
aiding in the reconstruction of Iraq, was killed in the capital of Baghdad Friday, according to the company for which he worked.
According to the report, the civilian was killed from gunshots while traveling in his vehicle, accompanied by a convoy of US soldiers.
Earlier, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld was in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, visiting American soldiers. Rumsfeld was in this town as part of his tour of Iraq. He also traveled to Mosul, where he met with local Iraqi officials and US military commanders.
Rumsfeld spoke to U.S. troops, thanking them for bringing freedom to Iraq and warning that more hardships remain.
Local officials in Mosul asked Rumsfeld for help in several areas, including increasing the supply of diesel fuel, and speeding up the privatization of local businesses. According to the AP, Rumsfeld replied that he agreed privatization was a good idea for Iraq's economy.
"This country has decades of doing things exactly the wrong way - nationally governmentally owned and nationally controlled," he said. Rumsfeld also said he was optimistic about Iraq's future.
"I think we have the formula here for success," Rumsfeld said. "A lot of things have been accomplished. It's not going to be a straight steady path. In the future there will be difficulties."
Meanwhile, a British bomb disposal expert was killed in an ambush. He was killed near Mosul as he was driving towards the city with his local bodyguard when their car was attacked. The bodyguard was critically injured. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
