Iraq Press Roundup

Ahmed Chalabi's Al Mutamar newspaper Wednesday reported that the U.S. Army shot at Iraqi demonstrators. It said the U.S. Army denied the incident, but the Iraqi police confirmed it.

The report said the incident occurred when demonstrators blocked a main road near Baghdad. Witnesses from the neighborhood and police said 18 demonstrators were injured.

The paper said the United States confirmed the demonstrators blocked the road in Khalis, 80 kilometers north of Baghdad.

A U.S. official was quoted as saying a U.S. military convoy was fired upon with guns and missiles. In response, the convoy fired warning shots. "We did not shoot at the crowd," the U.S. official was quoted as saying.

Witnesses said residents were holding a peaceful demonstration as a protest against the lack of security.

The Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council's Al Adala newspaper reported Wednesday on the release of 103 prisoners in the custody of the U.S.-led coalition.

It quoted a source as saying those released were found to have no links to terrorist acts.

The newspaper also reported that residents informed U.S. troops of four weapons caches south of Baghdad -- in Mahmoudiya, Taka, Yousifiya.

The Hezbollah Party's Al Bainaa newspaper wrote in its editorial Wednesday on the conflict between Vice President Tariq Al Hashimi's Iraqi Islamic Party and its four rivals.

The paper asked why the rivals neglected his demands though they were doable.

"When you ask the four parties, they tell you that Hashimi wants his party to fill all the Sunni Cabinet positions, and that Hashimi demands the deputy prime minister position, which is taken by another Sunni party. There is no mention of other demands from the Iraqi Islamic Party," it said.

The paper said the heads of the other parties -- President Jalal Talabani, Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki -- all tried unsuccessful to convince Hashimi to join the coalition.

"One of the Sunnis in Parliament said to us that the U.S. formed this four-party alliance to try and pass the laws they are interested in. Again, the Shiite and Kurdish parties are in one shell, taking out the Sunnis," the paper said.