Roadside bomb blast kills two U.S. soldiers

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Assailants detonated a roadside bomb near a U.S. military convoy in Baghdad on Monday, killing two American soldiers and an Iraqi translator. A U.S. commander said soldiers in the city had captured nine top rebel leaders in the past week, and had increased security ahead of possible Christmas season attacks.

Meanwhile, President Bush met Monday at the White House with Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator of Iraq and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Earlier, Bremer told NBC’s "Today" show that "there’s been a suggestion of high terror threats" in Iraq in recent weeks unrelated to Saddam Hussein’s capture.

In Baghdad, Brig. Gen. Mark Hertling of the 1st Armored Division, which is responsible for security in Baghdad, said additional security measures would be a prudent move.

"We have some indications that it would be prudent to take some additional measures to counter specific potential threats," Hertling wrote in an e-mail.

On Sunday, U.S. troops detained ex-army Gen. Mumtaz al-Taji at a house in Baqouba, about 30 miles north of Baghdad.

"Tonight, we were on a mission to capture a former Iraqi intelligence service general who we believe is recruiting former military members of the Iraqi army to conduct attacks against U.S. forces," Maj. Paul Owen of the 588th Engineer Battalion said.

Al-Taji is not on the U.S. list of the 55 most wanted Iraqis. Thirteen fugitives from that list remain at large.

Bremer said information gleaned from Hussein’s capture has led to the arrests of insurgents such as the ex-general.

Hussein, however, "has not been particularly cooperative," Bremer said. "But we have been able to exploit some of the information and materials we have uncovered in the course of the last week in this battle to see down these insurgents."

Hussein was arrested Dec. 13 near his hometown of Tikrit, and the CIA is interrogating him in Iraq; Iraqi officials say the former dictator is in the Baghdad area.

Iraq’s Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Monday that once the U.S.-led provisional authority hands power over to Iraqis next year, Baghdad won’t discriminate against countries that want to help rebuild the country.

The comments appeared to be criticism of the U.S. decision to bar firms based in countries that opposed the Iraq war from bidding on $18.6 billion in contracts for reconstruction projects. The decision sparked widespread criticism in Germany, France and Russia, which have been shut out.

In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin told members of Iraq’s U.S.-appointed Governing Council that Russia was ready to write off more than half of the $8 billion Baghdad owes Moscow, its largest creditor.

At a Kremlin meeting, Putin told the delegation — led by the current head of the Governing Council, Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim — that Russia was ready to write off 65 percent of the debt, said Samir Shaker Mahmoud, a council member.

The debt is part of the approximately $41 billion owed by Iraq to the so-called Paris Club group of creditor nations; Iraq’s overall debt is about $120 million.