Iraq to World: Keep Diplomats in Baghdad

"BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Iraq appealed to its global partners Friday to defy al-Qaida's "blackmail" and keep their diplomats in Baghdad despite the reported slaying of Egypt's top envoy and threats against those who support the U.S.-backed administration.

A U.S. commander acknowledged more needs to be done to protect foreign diplomats and "we've got to do something very quickly."

Elsewhere, one American soldier was killed and six were wounded in separate insurgent attacks north and south of the Iraqi capital.

At the G-8 summit in Scotland, Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi said his government would begin withdrawing about 300 troops from Iraq in September - subject to security conditions at the time.

The moves come as violent incidents in the Iraqi capital are declining since Iraq's U.S.-backed forces launched an operation against insurgents in the city six weeks ago.

The commander of U.S. forces in Baghdad, Maj. Gen. William G. Webster Jr., said car bombings had dropped from 14 to 21 a week in May to about seven or eight a week now. But he said it was "very difficult to know" whether the insurgency has been broken."
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