U.S. soldiers return fire, kill one in crowd

BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. soldiers shot into a crowd of thousands of demonstrators in a Baghdad slum on Wednesday, killing one civilian and wounding four after a rocket-propelled grenade was fired at them, the military said. North of Baghdad, guerrillas killed two American troops.

In Sadr City, a Shiite Muslim slum, about 3,000 demonstrators gathered around a telecommunications tower where they said American forces in a helicopter tried to tear down an Islamic banner. U.S. military spokesman Sgt. Danny Martin said it was apparently blown down by rotor wash from a helicopter.

However, amateur video footage obtained by Associated Press Television News showed a Black Hawk helicopter hovering a few feet from the top of the tower and apparently trying to tear down the banner. Later, U.S. Humvees drove by and the crowd threw stones at them. Heavy gunfire could be heard and demonstrators were seen diving to the ground.

Martin said U.S. forces opened fire after stones, gunfire and one rocket-propelled grenade were directed at soldiers of the 1st Armored Division. One civilian was killed and four were wounded, he said. He said no soldiers were hit.

Sadr City, formerly known as Saddam City, is a Shiite stronghold in the otherwise Sunni Muslim-dominated capital.

"We're peaceful people, but one edict (from the imams) and the entire American Army will become our prisoner," said Hassan Azab, a member of the local district council.

The military also reported killing two Iraqis in separate incidents in the Baqouba region, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad. Aberle said the two were killed after firing on U.S. troops.

Also Wednesday, an attack 15 miles south of Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's hometown, killed one U.S. soldier and wounded a second when their four-vehicle convoy hit a roadside bomb, according to Maj. Josslyn Aberle, spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry Division.

The military also reported a soldier killed and two wounded in a bomb attack Tuesday near Taji, 12 miles north of Baghdad. The attack was in the same region where an oil pipeline fire sent flames 200 feet into the air on Tuesday.

It was unclear whether the pipeline fire was the work of saboteurs. Many pipelines across Iraq have been hit by guerrillas seeking to destabilize U.S. reconstruction efforts.

The country began pumping crude oil from its northern oil fields Wednesday for the first time since the war — a milestone in the restoration of the country's oil production that augurs well for thirsty world markets.

Iraq sits atop the world's second-largest proven crude reserves, and oil exports are vital to its postwar reconstruction and the success of U.S. efforts to implant democracy in the country. Before the war halted Iraq's oil production, the country pumped around 2.1 million barrels a day, most of it for export.