U.S. Troops Shoot, Wound Woman In Baghdad

American soldiers shot and wounded a woman - identified by an Iraqi television station as one of its producers - after she failed to heed warnings to stop near a Baghdad checkpoint recently targeted by suicide and car bombs, Iraqi and U.S. military officials said Saturday.

The U.S. military said in a statement that the woman was "acting erratic" and didn't respond to warnings from Iraqi and American troops near the checkpoint in the central neighborhood of Jadiriyah on Thursday.

"Concerned by the danger she might present to the security forces and civilians, given her repeated failure to respond to warnings, soldiers fired two rounds, wounding the woman," the U.S. military said. It did not provide further details of her behavior.

The Biladi TV station, which is owned by former Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, identified the woman as 25-year-old producer Hadeel Emad.

Station spokesman Muhsin Kadhum told The Associated Press that Emad had just left the station and was crossing the street to get a taxi when she was shot.

"She has hearing problems, and she didn't hear the warnings," Kadhum said. "She was wearing a long coat and carried nothing in her hands."

Emad was in critical condition in a Baghdad hospital, Kadhum said.

A medical official at al-Yarmouk hospital in Baghdad confirmed Emad was brought in for treatment and was listed in critical condition. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information.

An Iraqi police officer told the AP that Emad was walking with her husband and ignored warnings from U.S. troops to stop. The officer spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release information.

The U.S. military did not identify the woman, but said she was taken to an area hospital.

A U.S. military spokesman, Col. Bill Buckner, said the incident was under investigation and referred all further inquiries to Iraq's Interior Ministry.

Violence has fallen sharply in Iraq over the past year, but an array of attacks Saturday underlined the tensions that persist.

Two people were killed and 10 wounded by a roadside bomb that targeted a Shiite religious march near Zafraniyah, about 12 miles south of Baghdad, police and hospital officials said on condition of anonymity.

In the northern city of Mosul, one policeman was killed when gunmen attacked a patrol, police said.

An Iraqi official said two people were killed and another was wounded when a bomb they were concealing in their car exploded near the town of Sinjar, 75 miles 120 kilometers west of Mosul.

Abdul Rahim al-Shimmery, the mayor of Sinjar, said the two men killed in the explosion were brothers.

In Kirkuk, gunmen assassinated a member of the Kurdistan Communist Party, said police Col. Yazgar Shuker.

Al-Maliki Meets With Ahmadinejad

Iaqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki held a series of meetings after he arrived in the Iranian capital Tehran on Saturday, heading a high ranking delegation of top Iraqi ministers for talks on bilateral ties with Iranian senior officials.

Al-Maliki met First Iranian Vice President Parviz Davoudi and went on to meet Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the presidential palace.

The newly implemented security deal between the United States and Baghdad was expected to top al-Maliki's agenda.

Initially, Iran bitterly opposed the Iraq-U.S. deal, which went into effect on Thursday, fearing it would pave the way to a long-term U.S. presence on its Western border. The agreement allows U.S. troops to stay in Iraq until the end of 2011.

But Tehran has softened its position on the pact in recent weeks.

The visit is al-Maliki's fourth to Iran since he was elected prime minister.