Military

DATE=3/4/04

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE= IRAQ / VIOLENCE (S-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-313804

BYLINE= LAURIE KASSMAN

DATELINE=BAGHDAD

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Iraqi authorities say at least three people were injured when a police station was attacked in the northern city of Mosul. Meanwhile, in the predominantly Sunni city of Ramadi, hundreds of residents demonstrated to protest Tuesday's attack on Shi'ite worshipers in Baghdad and Karbala. Correspondent Laurie Kassman reports from Baghdad.

TEXT: Authorities have cordoned off the police station in Mosul, and launched a manhunt for the attackers. They say several mortar rounds hit the police station and an adjacent mosque, injuring several people.

A senior coalition official says such attacks are targeting security forces and infrastructure, which are key elements of Iraq's reconstruction.

The official says foreign terrorists who have infiltrated the country are also targeting key political leaders to disrupt their efforts to build a democratic government. Officials also say the suicide attacks Tuesday on Shi'ite Muslim pilgrims in Baghdad and Karbala are aimed at fomenting civil war.

But that campaign appears to have backfired. Sunni, Shi'ite and Kurdish leaders have called for calm and national unity. And residents of the mostly Sunni town of Ramadi marched in the streets to protest the attacks on Iraqi Shi'ites, and to call for unity. The town has been considered a stronghold of Saddam Hussein loyalists. (SIGNED)

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