Meanwhile, enraged crowds protested the December 30 hanging of former President Saddam Hussein across Iraq's Sunni heartland.
Guards allowed a mob in Samarra into a bomb-damaged Shi'ite shrine. They marched through, carrying a mock coffin and photo of the dictator.
The demonstration took place at the Golden Dome shrine, which was shattered in a bombing by Sunni extremists 10 months ago that helped triggered the current cycle of retaliatory attacks between Sunnis and Shi'a.
The U.S. military also said today that a Marine killed an Iraqi soldier on December 30 during what it described as an altercation at a security post in Al-Fallujah. The military is investigating the incident
The military also reported the death of a U.S. serviceman in a roadside bomb on January 1, while Iraqi police said a separate bombing killed three civilians today in eastern Baghdad.
(AP, AFP, Reuters)