Tulsa World: Green Zone killings in Iraq prompt transition concerns

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Green Zone killings in Iraq prompt transition concerns

By AP Wire Services
Published: 5/24/2009 2:36 AM
Last Modified: 5/24/2009 4:58 AM

BAGHDAD (AP) — An American was found dead in Baghdad's fortified Green Zone, the U.S. military said Saturday, the apparent victim of an unprecedented slaying that occurred at a time when blast walls are coming down and Iraqi forces are assuming greater control.

Another American, believed to be a civilian contractor, was killed Friday night when a rocket struck the Green Zone near the U.S. Embassy, the military said. It was believed to be the year's first fatal rocket attack there.

Those deaths have raised concerns about security before the June 30 deadline for all U.S. combat troops to pull out of Iraqi cities. At least 66 people were killed nationwide in a two-day string of bombings this week.

Iraq assumed control of the Green Zone zone on Jan. 1 under a U.S.-Iraqi security agreement, taking primary responsibility from the Americans for searching vehicles and checking identity papers at entry checkpoints.

The Iraqis have begun removing some of the protective blast walls around the Green Zone — part of a campaign to restore a sense of normalcy as violence in the city has waned.

The U.S. military gave few details of the slaying, saying only that an American was found dead Friday in his car and that Army criminal investigators were handling the case. No further details were released.

The victim was identified by his brother, Cliff Kitterman, as Jim Kitterman, 60, of Houston, Texas, who runs a small construction company based in the Green Zone and had worked in Iraq for about six years.

The Washington Post quoted a U.S. official familiar with the investigation as saying the victim had been bound, blindfolded and stabbed multiple times. By AP Wire Services

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