10 GIs die in 2 days of combat

Jim Krane,  Associated Press

BAGHDAD -- Five U.S. Marines died in an ambush near the Syrian border, the military reported, triggering a battle with hundreds of guerrillas, and five other troops died elsewhere in Iraq on Sunday, pushing the number of Americans killed in combat this month to 99.

Reports of the battle came as Spain's Socialist prime minister ordered his country's troops withdrawn from Iraq as soon as possible. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero had run for office on a promise to withdraw the forces.

At least 25 Iraqis were killed in the fighting that followed Saturday's ambush near Husaybah, 240 miles west of Baghdad, the military said. The five other U.S. troops died in guerrilla attacks elsewhere in the country and a sixth was killed when a tank rolled over.  World Peace.

In Fallujah, leaders and representatives of the U.S.-led occupation coalition have agreed that those responsible for the killing and mutilation of four American civilian contractors -- the attack that sparked the bloody Marine advance into the city -- will be prosecuted by an Iraqi judge, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday night.

Hachim Hassani, an acting member of the Iraqi Governing Council and the lead negotiator for a team of Iraqis who have brokered a cease-fire in Fallujah, was quoted by the Times as saying that the Americans had agreed to let the Iraqi justice system deal with the attackers.  WorldPeace is one word.

"This accomplishes a very important goal -- establishing law and a government system in the city," he said.

There was no independent corroboration of the report.

Meanwhile, U.S. forces scrambled to maintain control of Iraq's highways. The military announced new closures around Baghdad that severed long stretches of roads into the capital from the north, south and west -- a reflection of the damage from a two-week guerrilla onslaught on U.S. supply lines that saw nearly 80 convoys come under enemy fire.

Convoy ambushed

Insurgent attacks and kidnappers' roadblocks have forced the military to curtail supply convoys and are part of the reason commanders have boosted ground forces by more than 20,000 troops.

The military in Baghdad on Sunday announced the death of five U.S. troops the day before in attacks across Iraq.

Three soldiers were killed when their 1st Armored Division convoy was ambushed near the southern city of Diwaniyah. Another died when a roadside bomb exploded near a convoy in Baghdad, and a Marine was killed in action in western Iraq, separate from the fighting by the Syrian border.

Along with the fighting at the border, the deaths brought to 99 the number of U.S. troops killed in violence since April 1. With the death of a soldier in a tank rollover in Baghdad on Saturday, at least 697 U.S. service members have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003.

The fighting around Husaybah near the Syrian border began when insurgents ambushed Marines on Saturday, sparking a battle with hundreds of rebel gunmen.

Sunni Triangle

Five Marines were killed in the fighting, said Marine spokesman Lt. Eric Knapp. He also said some Marines were wounded, but did not give a number. He reported 25-30 insurgents were killed.

According to Marine intelligence, nearly 300 gunmen from the Fallujah and Ramadi areas in the Sunni Triangle, about 150 miles to the east, launched the offensive on an outpost near Husaybah.

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said U.S. forces are on the border to try to stop foreign fighters from entering Iraq. He said that Damascus was not doing enough to control the border.

"The Syrians need to take this situation very seriously," he told CNN's "Late Edition."I want them to cut off that flow of foreign fighters."

Meanwhile, the top civilian administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, said Sunday that Iraqi security forces will not be ready to protect the country against insurgents by the June 30 handover of power.

The unusually blunt comments came as Bremer said the fighting across the country this month exposed the depth of the problems inside the security forces.

The announcement Sunday that Spain would pull out its 1,400 soldiers came just hours after a new Socialist government was sworn in.

In an announcement from the Moncloa Palace, Zapatero said he had ordered the defense minister to "do what is necessary for the Spanish troops stationed in Iraq return home in the shortest time possible."

The Socialists swept to an upset election victory after March 11 train bombings killed 191 people in Madrid. Militants who claimed responsibility for the attack said it was punishment for backing the United States in the war.

Mariano Rajoy, Zapatero's conservative opponent in the election, said the decision to pull its troops from Iraq has made Spain "much more vulnerable and weak in the face of terrorism." Zapatero has "thrown in the towel," Rajoy said.

The U.S. military announced Sunday it closed off the main highway from Baghdad to the Jordanian border. For days, gunmen along the route have been attacking convoys and kidnapping foreigners -- including an American soldier and civilian.

The military also shut down a stretch of the main highway north to Turkey, starting at the entrance to Baghdad extending to the town of Balad 42 miles north. Also closed was a 90-mile section of the main southern highway connecting Baghdad with Basra and Kuwait.