Insurgents Massacre 49 Iraqi Recruits

• State Dept. Official Killed in Attack at U.S. Military Base

The bodies of 49 freshly trained Iraqi National Guard recruits, lined up and executed by insurgents, were discovered on a roadside about 75 miles northeast of Baghdad, Iraqi officials said Sunday. In a separate attack, a member of the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security was killed when a rocket or mortar round landed in a U.S. military base adjoining the Baghdad airport early Sunday morning. Edward J. Seitz, 41, was the assistant regional security officer for the U.S. Embassy. The massacre of the recruits occurred shortly after sunset Saturday near the army's main training base in Kirkush, said Col. Adnan Abdul-Rahman, a spokesman for the interim Interior Ministry. The recruits had just departed the base aboard three buses to begin a 20-day leave when they were stopped at a checkpoint manned by insurgents dressed as Iraqi police, residents said, according to Abdul-Rahman. Most of the recruits appeared to have filed off the buses, lined up in four rows and lain down before they were shot. The first 37 bodies were discovered Saturday night. Another 12 were found after daybreak Sunday a short distance away, still inside the minibus where they were killed. Three drivers were among those killed. [more ] and [more ]