Attack on Baghdad police academy kills 43
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-07 08:38

Police Capt. Jalil Abdul-Qadir said 43 people were killed, including seven policewomen, and at least 73 were wounded. U.S. forces said the death toll was at least 27.

Also Tuesday, the U.S. military said a soldier assigned to Task Force Baghdad was killed when a patrol hit a roadside bomb Sunday. At least 2,129 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

The video broadcast on Al-Jazeera showed a blond, Western-looking man sitting with his hands tied behind his back. The video also bore the logo of the Islamic Army in Iraq, an insurgent group, and showed a U.S. passport and an Arabic identification card with the name Ronald Schulz. The spelling of the name was uncertain because it was written in Arabic.

U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Liz Colton said U.S. authorities were aware of the Al-Jazeera report and were investigating.

The authenticity of the video could not be immediately confirmed.

An unidentified father sits next to his injured policeman son at Al Kindi hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday Dec. 6, 2005. [AP]

If true, the man would be the second American taken hostage in the last two weeks. A U.S. citizen was among four peace activists taken hostage Nov. 26 by a group calling itself the Swords of Righteousness. Two Canadians and a Briton also were seized.

On Tuesday, Bush said the United States will work for the return of captive Americans in Iraq but would not submit to terrorist tactics. "We, of course, don't pay ransom for any hostages," Bush said.

"What we will do, of course, is use our intelligence-gathering to see if we can't help locate them," Bush said.

A French engineer was taken hostage in Baghdad on Monday and a German aid worker was abducted near Mosul on Nov. 26.

Police Maj. Falah al-Mohammedawi said authorities had no he didn't have any additional information Tuesday about the kidnapping of the French engineer, Bernard Planche, but that the Interior Ministry had distributed his photo to checkpoints around Baghdad.

There is no evidence the kidnappings were coordinated, and those responsible for abducting the German aid worker and four Christian peace activists claim to represent different groups. But the incidents seemed timed to coincide with Saddam Hussein's trial or the Dec. 15 elections.

Christian Peacemaker Teams appealed to the kidnappers to release the four activists.

"As you can see by the statements of support from our friends in Iraq and all over the world, we work for those who are oppressed," the group said. "We also condemn our own governments for their actions in Iraq."

Also Tuesday, the Marines updated their report on the deaths of 10 Marines on Dec. 1 in Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad.

The statement said the Marines from Company F, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, were not on a foot patrol, as previously reported, but were in an abandoned flour mill when they were killed by an explosion. The troops used the mill as a temporary patrol base.

The statement said the Marines had gathered in the mill for a promotion ceremony. The military suspects one of the Marines triggered a booby trap, causing the explosion, the statement said.

"Explosive experts believe four artillery shells were buried in two separate locations," it read.