Iraqi Leader Hails Raid on Militants

Prime Minister Ibrahim Jafari ignored a purported Al Qaeda threat and visited here Monday to congratulate Iraqi forces for rousting militants, Iraqi television reported.

The state-controlled Al Iraqiya channel, which showed no pictures, said Jafari had gone to Tall Afar despite insurgents’ threat to unleash chemical and biological weapons against the 5,000 Iraqi soldiers and commandos, backed by 3,500 U.S. troops, who stormed the city Saturday.

Rebel positions were found mainly deserted Sunday, and the troops discovered tunnels below the city through which the insurgents were believed to have fled to the surrounding countryside.

Even so, the offensive took a heavy toll on the insurgents, with almost 200 dead and more than 315 captured, Iraqi military officials said.

Brig. Gen. Abdul Aziz Mohammed Jassim said at least six Iraqi soldiers and six civilians had died in the fighting. No American soldiers were reported killed.

Iraqi and U.S. military leaders vowed to redouble efforts to crush insurgents operating along the Syrian border and in the Euphrates River valley.

Defense Minister Saadoun Dulaimi said: “The Syrians have to stop sending destruction to Iraq. We know the terrorists have no other gateway into Iraq but Syria.”

A Syrian Foreign Ministry official reacted angrily, rejecting that statement as “absolutely untrue.”

In Baghdad, meanwhile, a car bomb exploded outside a popular restaurant in the upscale Mansour neighborhood Monday night, witnesses said. Hospital officials reported at least two people killed and 17 wounded.

A hospital doctor said most victims were women.

Amid the violence, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said a man, Garabet Jekerjian, had been kidnapped in Iraq. An Internet posting, which could not be authenticated, said the hostage worked for a company that sells liquor to the U.S. military.

In the posting, Jekerjian is shown wearing a black T-shirt and shorts, sitting on the ground in front of a gray wall with chains around his wrists and ankles.

A masked man points a rifle at his head as the hostage calls for Lebanese to leave Iraq.

He gives his name, says he is a dual citizen of Lebanon and Cyprus and works for a firm that distributes food and alcohol to the U.S.-led coalition in Iraq.