BAGHDAD, Iraq — The Iraqi prime minister demanded Friday that Syria do more to keep foreign fighters from crossing into western Iraq, where U.S. troops are battling al-Qaida-led forces. Five more American service members were reported killed.
Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, appearing with visiting Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, told reporters it was "no secret" that foreign fighters were using Syrian territory to enter Iraq and the government had implored the Syrians to crack down on such movements.
"So we ask why the Syrians are not responding to our people's demands," al-Jaafari said. "We demand that they control their borders, prevent infiltration and terrorism. We want good relations with Syria, but this cannot be achieved when such violations exist."
U.S. troops launched a major offensive last week against al-Qaida-led fighters near the border with Syria, an area the U.S. command describes as the major entry point for foreign Islamic extremists responsible for many of the suicide attacks that have killed hundreds of Iraqis in recent weeks.
The American command reported Friday that a Marine was killed the day before in a roadside bombing in Karabilah, about 200 miles west of Baghdad and one of the main border area villages where the extremists operate.
Two U.S. Army soldiers were killed Thursday by small arms fire during combat operations in Khaldiyah, 55 miles west of Baghdad, the military said. Two other American soldiers died in a traffic accident northwest of Kirkuk, the military said.
The deaths brought the number of U.S. service members killed in Iraq since the war began in 2003 to 2,061, according to an Associated Press count.
Syria maintains it has tried to curb infiltration across its borders and has accused U.S. and Iraqi forces of failing to do their part to control the long desert frontier. The Syrians insist allegations against them are part of a U.S. media campaign to discredit their government for opposing the Iraq war.
Elsewhere, three Iraqi police officers were killed Friday when their vehicle was ambushed near Baqouba, 35 miles northeast of Baghdad.
In Baghdad, gunmen fired on the compound of the Embassy of Oman, killing two people and wounding two others — the second fatal shooting involving employees of Arab embassies in Baghdad this week. One of the dead was a policeman and the other was an embassy employee, said police Maj. Falah al-Mohammedawi said.
On Wednesday, a driver for the Sudanese Embassy was shot to death in the same part of the capital, and last month two employees of the Moroccan Embassy were abducted on a highway in western Iraq.
Al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for abducting the Moroccans, as well as for the July kidnap-slaying of three Arab diplomats — two Algerians and one Egyptian — in Baghdad.
The terror organization has warned governments, especially those of Arab and Islamic countries, to break off ties to the U.S.-backed Iraqi government.
Meanwhile, Razgar Ali, the head of the Kirkuk provincial council, said a brother of parliament speaker Hajim al-Hassani was arrested by U.S. and Iraqi forces for leading a terrorist cell.
Hatam Mahdi al-Hassani initially was reported kidnapped along with two others. Another brother, Nashat al-Hassani, denied Hatam was involved with terrorists.
"We are a religious family and we have no relations with insurgents. We demand his immediate release, if he is under police custody," Nashat al-Hassani said. The family is Sunni.
U.S. forces also reported a raid Thursday on an insurgent cell responsible for suicide bombings in which seven men were killed, including one wearing a vest loaded with explosives.
"Coalition forces, acting on multiple intelligence sources and tips from local citizens, raided three suspected terrorist safe houses," the statement said. "During the raid, coalition forces killed seven terrorists and detained five. The terrorists were armed with rocket-propelled grenades, machine guns and explosives."