A U.S. soldier arrives at the scene where an U.S. Army Humvee was destroyed

BAGHDAD, May 26 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Four U.S. soldiers were killed and six others wounded amid a flare-up of resistance activity and street violence Monday, May 27, that highlighted the continuing dangers in Iraq.

Iraqi gunmen fired machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades at a convoy of the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment near Haditha, 110 miles northwest of Baghdad, a U.S. statement said.

Hours later, an explosion rocked a U.S. military convoy on the outskirts of Baghdad, killing one soldier and wounding three others and destroying their Humvee military car.

"They deserved it and they deserve more. They are occupiers, not liberators," said Ali Abbas, a resident of the Amiriyah area in western Baghdad, to Reuters.

Another soldier was killed in a traffic crash and a fourth drowned in an aqueduct, officials said.

"It was heavy on accidents today," Central Command spokesman Commander David Culler said, adding the number of attacks on U.S. troop was usual.

On Sunday, May 25, a U.S. soldier was killed and another injured in an explosion at a facility containing Iraqi ammunition south of Baghdad.

Iraqis are seething with anger at the slow pace of improvement in their war-torn country since the U.S. forces rolled in and Saddam Hussein ousted.

The U.S. military said Monday that its soldiers shot dead an Iraqi woman, the U.S. military said she was carrying two hand grenades in Baqubah, 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of Baghdad, late Sunday, May 25, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.

In Doha, members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries prepared to act to keep oil prices from collapsing as 13 years of U.N. sanctions are lifted on Iraq.

OPEC President Abdullah bin Hamad al-Attiyah said the organization can be expected to slash production at a June 11 ministerial meeting to avoid a price collapse once Iraq's oil hits the world market again, possibly as early as June.

"The cut will be the topic that will be very carefully" discussed, Attiyah said, noting that confusion about Iraq's return to the market and inventories made it difficult to set a figure.

OPEC would "also treat very carefully the reentry of Iraq to the market," at the ministerial meeting in Doha, he said.

The United Nations last week lifted oil sanctions slapped on Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, purring control of oil revenues in the hands of the “occupying powers”.

Meanwhile, tensions between Iraqis and the country's U.S. administrators came to the fore yet again during a protest by demobilized Iraqi soldiers.

"We demand the speedy establishment of a government, the return of security, the rehabilitation of public institutions and the payment of wages to all soldiers," former general Saheb al-Mussawi said.

The protest followed Friday's announcement by Bremer that Saddam's former army and vast security apparatus would be abolished, replaced by a "non-political" army, and plans to issue demobilized soldiers just a single severance payment.

The 100 or so demonstrators warned they would stage further protests, form militias and possibly even carry out bomb attacks if their situation was not reconciled.

"If our position is not settled, we threaten to take up arms," former colonel Ahmed Abdullah said.

Several protests have since taken place, with workers urging that dismissed colleagues be reinstated despite their allegiance to the Baath party.

In Geneva, the World Health Organization (WHO) said it hoped to resume distributing medical supplies inside Iraq by the end of this week as part of its bid to jumpstart the health system.

Decided In December

In another development, the Bush administration decided back in mid-December that a U.S.-led invasion on Iraq was inevitable, even as it publicly held out hope for a diplomatic solution, the Financial Times newspaper reported Tuesday.

In the first installment of a three-part investigation, it said the "internal moment" to go to war came within days of Iraq's 12,000-page declaration to the United Nations on December 8 on weapons of mass destruction.

"There was a feeling that the White House was being mocked," an individual who worked closely with the National Security Council was quoted as telling the Financial Times.

The invasion began three months later, on March 20, after a bid by Britain and the United States for a U.N. mandate for military action caused a bitter row with France, Germany and Russia.

The United States and Britain launched their aggression on Iraq mainly to rid the country of alleged weapons of mass destruction but, so far, no such weapons have been found.