2 U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq; cleric criticizes government

Two U.S. soldiers died in separate attacks, the military announced Friday, and a prominent Shiite Muslim cleric criticized the Iraqi government for not spending enough on basic services.

One soldier died and another was wounded Thursday when a bomb blast ripped through their vehicle in the Baghdad area.

The second death, also caused by an explosion, occurred in the capital’s Shiite-dominated eastern district, the military said in a statement.

The killings raised the number of U.S. troop fatalities in Iraq to 3,630 since March 2003, according to icasualties.org.

In raids Friday against Al Qaeda in Iraq and other militants around the country, U.S. soldiers killed three suspected fighters and captured 44, the military said.

President Bush has identified Iraq as the central front in the U.S.-declared war against Al Qaeda. However, the extent of links between Al Qaeda in Iraq and Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network is unclear.

Outside Baqubah, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad, where American forces have pressed a major offensive since last month, the U.S. Army said that on Thursday it detained an Iraqi with links to the Quds Force, an elite covert unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.

The military said the detainee had been smuggling armor-piercing bombs that have killed American troops. U.S. officials have repeatedly accused Iran of bankrolling and training Shiite and Sunni Muslim factions in Iraq, a charge that Iran has denied.

In the Shiite shrine city of Karbala, a representative of Iraq’s most respected Shiite religious figure, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, lashed out at the Iraqi government during Friday prayers.

He accused officials of not spending enough government funds on the Iraqi people.

Cleric Ahmed Safi said the Shiite-led government’s spending on ordinary people is “just like how it was” under Saddam Hussein.

Meanwhile, 16 unidentified bodies were found around Baghdad, police said.

ned.parker@latimes.com