A
US diplomat was killed in a mortar attack Sunday at Camp Victory near
Baghdad airport, said the US State Department.
Ed
Seitz, the assistant regional security officer at the US embassy in
Baghdad, is the first American diplomat killed during the Iraqi war, a
department official said.
Details
of the attack at about 5 am were not immediately available.
But
a State Department official said at least one other American, a
soldier, had been wounded.
The
mortar also caused some damage to trailers in the area.
It
was unclear what Seitz was doing at Camp Victory at the time.
Secretary
of State Colin Powell, in Beijing on the second leg of a three-nation
Asian tour, called Seitz a "brave American, dedicated to his
country and to a brighter future for the people of Iraq."
"The
enemies of peace shall not shake our will. America and a free Iraq
will prevail," Powell said in a statement.
Fallujah
Bombing Kills Six
At
least six people, including three police officers, were killed and
seven wounded after a US warplane bombarded Fallujah on Sunday, medics
said.
"A
US marine jet struck a known insurgent command post that was being
rebuilt, there were secondary explosions on the ground after the
strike, which is always a good sign," said Major Francis Piccoli,
a marine spokesman.
On
the ground, Doctor Ali Hayad at Fallujah's main hospital said six dead
and seven wounded were brought in.
A
police officer on the scene, Aziz Ahmed, said three of the dead were
policemen and that the house hit in the US raid was empty.
He
said a police patrol was passing by the house when US planes struck.
Residents
were seen gathering around the scene of the raid checking for
casualties in the rubble as human remains were strewn nearby.
Fallujah
is pounded almost daily by US warplanes amid warnings of a major
assault ahead of January's planned elections.
