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Iraq war death toll nears 4,000

NEW YORK, March 21 (UPI) -- The U.S. death toll in the 5-year-old Iraq War is closing in on the 4,000 mark, a report said Friday.

The U.S. toll as of Thursday was 3,983, USA Today said.

Additionally, 482 troops died in Afghanistan.

One in six Americans who died in Iraq were too young to legally buy a beer, the report said. About two-dozen were 50 or older. Eleven died on Christmas and 11 others on Thanksgiving.

Ninety-eight percent of the victims were male, almost the same rate as in the Vietnam War. The most common age was 21. More than half were killed by bombs.

Report: Saddam had many terrorist links

WASHINGTON, March 21 (UPI) -- The Iraqi government of Saddam Hussein had ties with terrorist groups but none directly with al-Qaida, says a report prepared for the U.S.Defense Department.

Although no direct link was found between Saddam and al-Qaida, responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States, the report did show Iraqi support for Egyptian Islamic Jihad, which eventually merged with al-Qaida, The Washington Times reported Friday.

Also shown was the Iraqi Intelligence Service's relationship with Palestinian terrorist groups. The IIS sent representatives to meet with terrorists and trained non-Iraqi Arabs to attack Israel, the Times reported.

"Iraq was a longstanding supporter of international terrorism," said Institute for Defense Analyses, which prepared the report.

"Many terrorist movements and Saddam found a common enemy in the United States," the report said. "State sponsorship of terrorism became such a routine tool of state power that Iraq developed elaborate bureaucratic processes to monitor progress and accountability."

In its disclosure of the IIS-Egyptian Islamic Jihad alliance, a 1993 memo from the IIS to Saddam said Iraq aided the group previously and was re-establishing contacts to help in attacks on the government of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Ex-SLA member Soliah released from prison

LOS ANGELES, March 21 (UPI) -- Kathleen Soliah was released from a California prison after serving about half of her sentence for her role in a plot to blow up Los Angeles police cars.

Soliah, a former member of the radical Symbionese Liberation Army, must now serve a three-year parole, the Los Angeles Times reported Friday. Sentenced to 12 years, she earned credit toward release by working while incarcerated.

Soliah, originally from Palmdale, Calif., pleaded guilty to her role in a 1975 plot to kill Los Angeles police officers. She had gone underground for years, assuming the name Sara Jane Olson, marrying a physician and becoming a homemaker and mother of three in St. Paul, Minn., before her capture in 1999. She was captured after a segment of "America's Most Wanted."

Shawn Chapman Holley, Soliah's attorney, said, "We're thrilled she's out and can return to her family. For someone who was not a danger or a threat to society, it was six years too long."

Los Angeles police weren't so charitable.

Soliah "attempted to murder LAPD officers by bombing two police cars," said Tim Sands, president of the Police Protective League, representing the city's 9,300 officers, and should have been kept in prison.

Flood-ravaged states get some dry weather

ST. LOUIS, March 21 (UPI) -- The Meramec River rose toward record crests in several locations as Missouri and other states hit by deadly flooding began drying out.

Officials blamed flooding for more than a dozen deaths in several states, including five in Missouri and two in Illinois.

Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt activated the National Guard and President George Bush declared the state a disaster. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich declared 19 southern counties disaster areas.

Dry weather was forecast, but some rivers weren't expected to crest until the weekend, AccuWeather.com reported.

As the Meramec overflowed its banks, the National Weather Service forecast record or near-record crests, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. At Valley Park, Mo., the crest of 40 feet was expected by Saturday -- 24 feet over the town's flood stage.

The Mississippi and Missouri rivers also rose toward flood crests, but weren't expected to be as troublesome as the Meramec, the newspaper said.

In eastern Oklahoma, officials reported the system dumped between 2 1/2 inches and 9 inches of rain, flooding homes, washing out at least three bridges and damaging roads, the Tulsa (Okla.) World reported.