A car bomb attack on a U.S. patrol outside Falluja today killed seven American marines and three Iraqi National Guardsmen, in the deadliest single attack on U.S. forces in five months.
An Internet statement purportedly from a group holding two French hostages demanded a $5 million ransom for them and gave a 48-hour deadline to come up with the cash.
In an another blow to Iraq's U.S.-backed government, officials retracted a claim to have captured the most wanted Saddam Hussein aide still on the run in Iraq. "The person that has been arrested, after appropriate medical tests, was not al-Douri but somebody related to him, who is also wanted by the state," the Interior Ministry said.
