Bush Says U.S. To Remain In Iraq

4 August 2005 (RFE/RL) -- U.S. President George W. Bush has said U.S. troops will remain in Iraq to finish their mission, after 14 U.S. marines and their interpreter were killed by a roadside bomb there.

The incident occurred on 3 August during combat operations near the town of Haditha, some 200 kilometers northwest of Baghdad. The Islamic extremist Ansar al-Sunnah Army claimed responsibility.

The latest troop casualties come a day after seven Marines were killed in the same area.

In further violence in Iraq, unknown assailants have shot dead the American journalist Steven Vincent. His body was found yesterday in the city of Al-Basrah. Iraqi police said gunmen abducted Vincent and his Iraqi translator on 2 August.

(AP)

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