Soldiers killed in Iraq 'day of resistance'

A roadside bomb killed at least two US soldiers today in Mosul, northern Iraq, and many parents kept children away from classes in the capital after leaflets attributed to Saddam Hussein's party warned of a "Day of Resistance" against the US occupation.

Witnesses said an oil pipeline was on fire about 10 miles north of Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, an area of widespread opposition to the occupation. Witnesses said they suspected sabotage because the blaze was preceded by an explosion.

Sabotage to pipelines and the decayed state of Iraqi's infrastructure have slowed efforts to revive the country's giant oil industry, considered the key to rebuilding the nation's economy.

The latest attacks came after rumours swept Baghdad that bombings or other resistance action would strike the capital today. A leaflet attributed to Saddam's ousted Baathist party declared today a "Day of Resistance," and called for a three-day general strike.

It was difficult to gauge public response to the threat. Many shops in the city of five million people were open, but morning traffic appeared lighter than usual. Many parents kept their children at home today, the first day of the Iraqi working week.

At one boys' secondary school, Al-Jawad, only 80 of 500 students showed up for class, deputy principal Abdel Karim al-Azzawi said. "Parents are worried about their children," al-Azzawi said.

Classes were cancelled at the Al-Huda girls' elementary school after only 23 of 700 pupils attended, according to the principal, Sana Naji Abbas. More than half the teachers also stayed home, she said.

One teenage girl who did set out from home this morning sounded a defiant note. "We heard that they want to bomb schools, but we weren't afraid," said Sabrin Talib, 17. "I came to school today."

It appeared the strike call was less effective in Mosul and Basra, where witnesses reported that most shops were open and traffic appeared normal.

The "Day of Resistance" threat prompted some Western governments to issue warnings to their citizens in Iraq. The Australian government warned of "a credible imminent threat" to the area around the Al Hamra Hotel in central Baghdad, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Lyndall Sachs said in Canberra.

She said staff from the Australian government's mission in Baghdad have been "temporarily relocated to safer accommodations while we assess the threat further".

The US State Department advised Americans to be vigilant.

In Mosul, the US military also said two soldiers were wounded in the roadside bombing, which Iraqi police initially reported as a land mine. Late Friday, another US soldier was injured in Mosul, Iraq's third largest city, when his patrol was attacked by a grenade or homemade bomb, the military said.

An Islamic clergymen's association in Mosul issued a statement yesterday denouncing as sinful any Muslim's support for the Americans. "Supporting them is apostasy (and) a betrayal of religion."