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4A Sunday, July 5, 2009 charlotteobserver.com The Charlotte ObserverWORLD By M. Karim Faiez and Laura King Los Angeles Times KABUL, Afghanistan Insur- gents armed with rockets, mortars and a truck bomb staged an unusual frontal at- tack on a U.S. base in eastern Afghanistan on Saturday, kill- ing two U.S. service members and forcing the defenders to call in airstrikes to avoid being overrun. The assault, which came as thousands of American troops were taking part in an anti-Tal- iban offensive hundreds of miles away in the south of Af- ghanistan, pointed up the in- ability to take the fight to a location of their choosing in this case a re- mote outpost in Paktika prov- ince, which borders tribal areas.

The incident also illustrated militant continuing capability to stage sophisticat- ed, multipronged attacks in eastern border zone, despite the Pakistani ar- efforts in recent weeks to rein in insurgents who use the tribal areas in Pakistan as a staging ground. attack on a small base in Zerok district, which lasted several hours, took place in the same area where a U.S. soldier disappeared Tues- day. The U.S. military said two days later that the missing man was believed to have been captured.

A search is un- der way. U.S. military officials said U.S. soldiers were wounded in addition to the two killed in the base attack, but they declined to provide a more precise figure. Military officials said at least 10 insur- gents were killed in counter- strikes by U.S.

and Afghan troops, including artillery fire and airstrikes by assault heli- copters. A spokesman for the governor of Paktika province, however, put the number of militants killed at more than 30. The attackers fired at least one shell containing white phosphorus, a highly incendi- ary agent, Interna- tional Security Assistance Force said in a statement. Western military officials have accused insurgents of us- ing white phosphorus in sev- eral previous attacks. A spokesman for the Tali- ban movement, Zabiullah Mu- jaheed, claimed responsibility for the attack and said more than 100 insurgents took part in it.

His statement could not be verified independently. The number of U.S. and Af- ghan troops inside the base at the time was not disclosed, but the installation in question is a relatively small one. With warmer temperatures and the advent of the tradi- tional summer sea- violence across the country has been creeping up- ward. Interior Ministry said seven police- men were killed by a roadside bomb in Kandahar province, in the south, and two Afghan army soldiers died in a road- side blast in Helmand prov- ince, also in the south.

Afghan rebels attack remote U.S. base 2 U.S. soldiers are killed in frontal assault hundreds of miles from the main JOE RAEDLE GETTY IMAGES PHOTO Marines conduct a maneuver Saturday during Operation Khanjari, launched to take areas in southern Helmand province used by the Taliban as a resupply route. By Borzou Daragahi Los Angeles Times BEIRUT, Lebanon A right- wing newspaper close to supreme leader on Saturday accused the main op- position figure of being a dupe for foreign enemies and said he should face trial. But Mir Hossein Mousavi, defeated presidential candi- date and leader of a nascent re- form movement, remained un- bowed.

The former prime min- ister responded by releasing his most detailed account yet of what he maintains were ir- regularities and vote-rigging in last re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadi- nejad, including an allegation that only the allies were allowed to witness vote- counting on election day. of the (opposition) representatives were allowed to go the three-part report states. In a sign of potential escala- tion of confrontation with the West, an Iranian mil- itary official said the has been to take over the British Embassy residence in Tehran. Iranian officials have accused Britain of stirring up the large-scale public protests that roiled Tehran after the June 12 vote. The crackdown continued against supporters of the oppo- sition accused of taking part in recent protests.

The Web site of state-owned Press TV re- ported that 35 people were ar- rested. In Tehran, police have begun summoning residents to warn that they would be arrest- ed if they did not stop rooftop protest chants that have be- come a nightly ritual in the capital and other cities. The moves are the latest steps by authorities to silence critics and paint the recent weeks of political discord as the work of foreign agents and criminals. They also are part of an offi- cial attempt to blame the oppo- sition for days of violence that most witnesses and indepen- dent observers say was pro- voked by security forces and militias loyal to supreme lead- er Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, an Ahmadinejad ally. The state-owned newspaper Kayhan, long considered a mouthpiece of Khamenei, highest political and reli- gious authority, on Saturday described facts and documented that Mousavi was a foreign agent on mission directed from Hossein Shariatmadari, a hard-liner loyal to Khamenei and a staunch Ahmadinejad supporter, penned the piece, which represents a further ef- fort to stigmatize the opposi- tion movement.

the basis of available facts and documents, that cor- rupt movement has been im- plementing a foreign mission in order to encourage unlawful activities, kill innocent people, create a rebellion, plunder public property and weaken the power of the Islamic sys- Shariatmadari wrote. He accused Mousavi and his ally, former president Moham- mad Khatami, of serving as a for the West.He demanded that Mousavi and Khatami tried in an open for their crimes and overt acts of trea- Mousavi and Khatami had delivered strong statements Wednesday describing Ahma- government as On Saturday, Mousa- lengthy report on the elec- tion irregularities contained no smoking gun but was the most detailed account so far of- fered by the opposition forces of the methods they allege Ah- madinejad and his allies used to tilt the vote. They include allegations of misuse of official power, mobi- lization of government em- ployees, cash payouts to mili- tiamen and improper use of broadcast media as well as ac- cusations that millions of extra ballots without serial numbers were printed at the last mo- ment, while some pro-Mousavi districts ran out of ballots on election day. More heat put on Iranian opposition By Sheryl Gay Stolberg New York Times BAGHDAD Vice President Joe Biden prides himself on being a plainspoken guy, the kind who says whatever is on his mind. And on July Fourth in Iraq, he did not disappoint.

Biden spent Saturday morn- ing presiding over a natural- ization ceremony for 237 sol- diers, sailors, Marines and air- men including 12 from Iraq who became U.S. citizens. He had come to Iraq, just days af- ter U.S. combat troops with- drew from cities, on a diplo- matic mission. But Indepen- dence Day is about patriotism more than diplomacy, and Bi- den struck a down-home theme.

corny as it Bi- den declared, proud to be an Biden, along with President Obama, campaigned on a plat- form of ending the Iraq war. He said Saturday that the U.S. was to leave Iraq by the end of 2011, as Obama has promised. He made note of the cost of the war: 4,322 troops killed, more than 30,000 wounded, 17,000 critically in- jured. Yet despite the plans for withdrawal, the setting for the ceremony was a reminder of how much the U.S.

remained an occupying force. The swearing-in took place in the soaring rotunda of Al Faw Palace, one of Saddam more glorious mar- ble monuments to himself. Sixteen dark stone columns reach toward the ornate paint- ed ceiling. On Saturday, a 50-foot-long American flag served a back- drop as the soldiers, dressed in camouflage, their weapons tucked neatly under their chairs, swore to renounce all allegiance to foreign prince, potentate, state or sov- Biden remarked that he was reminded of the Foun- ding Fathers yes, your Founding Fa- thers, so get used to Later, Biden visited troops from Delaware, the 261st The- ater Tactical Signal Brigade, whose members include his son Beau. He recounted the story of the swearing-in.

did it in pal- ace, and I can think of nothing the vice president de- clared, his blunt side resurfac- ing. SOB is rolling over in his grave right Weather woes A hot wind kicked up severe sandstorms throughout Bi- visit, covering Baghdad in a thick blanket of dust. The storms played havoc with Bi- plans, grounding flights, upending meetings and creat- ing a delicate diplomatic situa- tion for the vice president, whose mission included fos- tering better ties between Washington and Baghdad. Saturday, Biden planned to make a secret trip to Erbil, a major city in Iraqi Kurdistan, to see Iraqi President Jalal Ta- labani and Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdish re- gional government. But the trip was canceled because the air was too thick with sand even for a C-17 jet to fly.

Paying a media Biden and Iraqi Prime Min- ister Nouri al-Maliki may have had their disagreements. But one thing they agreed on was the importance of freedom of the press so long as it does not involve pesky reporters asking questions. The two met Friday evening at the prime cere- monial residence. When Bi- den showed up, a horde of American photographers and reporters rushed in after him. Biden, making small talk, explained through an inter- preter the American concept of the journalis- tic lingo for the moment when the press pool photographs leaders shaking hands or en- gaging in chitchat.

Al-Maliki understood and referred to it as a that all leaders must pay. a good tax, Biden replied. do anything with- out them writing about Al-Maliki continued, offer- ing an expansive assessment of the rights of the Fourth Es- tate, is their right, Mr. Vice President, and they are welcome To which Biden, even more graciously, rejoined: their right, and our necessity. Who would listen to Biden visits son, other U.S.

troops KHALID MOHAMMED ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO Vice President Joe Biden and son Army Capt. Beau Biden (left) mingle with military members in Baghdad on Saturday. In Iraq, vice president also marks holiday by seeing 237 in military become U.S. citizens. LOCALLY OWNED OPERATED SINCE 1901 UPHOLSTERY CARPET INC.

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