‘Dr. Germ,’ other ex-Saddam aides freed

German hostage freed
The German government, meanwhile, said kidnappers had freed a German woman taken hostage with her driver in northern Iraq more than three weeks ago. Susanne Osthoff, a 43-year-old aid worker and archaeologist, was reported in good condition in the care of the German Embassy in Baghdad. It was unclear whether Osthoff’s Iraqi driver had also been freed.

In other violence Monday, a suicide car bomb exploded outside a children’s hospital in western Baghdad, killing at least two people and wounding 11, including seven policemen, officials said.

Police believe the bomb had been targeting a passing convoy carrying a police colonel, who was among the injured.

In western Baghdad, gunmen attacked the convoy of Deputy Baghdad Gov. Ziad Tariq, killing three civilians and wounding three of Tariq’s bodyguards, police said. Tariq was not injured.

The fuel prices were raised Sunday — some as much as nine times — to curb a growing black market, Oil Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said.

A gallon of imported and super gasoline in Iraq was raised to about 68 cents, but Iraqis were upset by the fivefold increase. The price of locally produced gas was raised to about 48 cents per gallon, a sevenfold increase.

In Amarah, 180 miles southeast of Baghdad, police fired into the air to disperse the hundreds of protesters who had gathered in front of the provincial government headquarters. The demonstrators, however, didn’t leave, and scuffles broke out with police.

Drivers blocked roads and set tires on fire near fuel stations in the southern city of Basra, and hundreds demonstrated outside the governor’s headquarters to protest the increases.

Oil Minister Ibrahim Bahr al-Uloum said when the Cabinet increased prices, it also decided that the extra money would be used to support more than 2 million low-income families so they wouldn’t be burdened. Some aid money was supposed to reach the families before the price hikes, but that didn’t happen, he said.

“Dr. Ibrahim will submit his resignation to the Iraqi government if the situation continues as is,” he said, referring to himself. “We should take in consideration the living conditions and the economic situation of the citizens.”

Iraq’s oil minister has previously said that cheap domestic fuel prices had encouraged smuggling to other countries. Iraq’s government has continued the practice of ousted leader Saddam Hussein of heavily subsidizing fuel prices.

Vote counting
With 89 percent of the ballot boxes counted in Baghdad province — Iraq’s largest district — preliminary results showed the United Iraqi Alliance received 1,403,901 votes, or about 58 percent, while the Sunni Arab Iraqi Accordance party got 451,782 votes, and former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s Iraqi National List with 327,174 votes, the electoral commission said.

The commission did not say how many people voted in Baghdad province or provide further details. Baghdad is Iraq’s biggest electoral district with 2,161 candidates running for 59 of the 275 seats in Iraq’s parliament.

In a speech Sunday, President Bush praised the vote and warned against a pullout of U.S. forces.

Hours before Bush spoke, Vice President Dick Cheney made a surprise visit to Baghdad, saying the election’s strong turnout had brought Iraq closer to taking control of its own security. But Cheney also cautioned against a rapid U.S. withdrawal.

Bush said last week’s voting would not end violence in Iraq but “means that America has an ally of growing strength in the fight against terror.” He warned that a U.S. troop pullout would “signal to the world that America cannot be trusted to keep its word.”

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