Roadside bomb kills 2 American contractors

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A roadside bomb hit a convoy carrying a U.S. security team near the southern city of Basra, killing two American civilians and seriously wounding a third, the U.S. Embassy said.\nIraqi authorities, meanwhile, held out hope that kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll would be released.\nThe U.S. Embassy said coalition forces cordoned off the scene of the Basra attack, which occurred at 2 p.m., and took the wounded to a hospital.\nSecurity contractor DynCorp International, based in Irving, Texas, confirmed that two of its employees who were assisting with Iraqi police training were killed.\n"We can confirm that the two men were DynCorp employees who were involved in the training of Iraqi police. Both men were American," said DynCorp spokesman Gregory Lagana.\nAn Associated Press photographer at the scene said two four-wheel-drive vehicles were targeted. The scene was surrounded by heavily armed British forces, whose main base in Iraq is in Basra.\nA British Ministry of Defense spokesman said the attack struck a convoy northwest of Basra, 340 miles southeast of Baghdad.\nShiite Muslim-dominated Basra is one of Iraq's calmer regions, but sectarian violence and attacks against British-led military personnel still occasionally flares.\nThe U.S. Embassy said a joint American-Iraqi investigation is under way to try find Carroll, 28, a freelance writer for the Christian Science Monitor.\n"Efforts are continuing to find the American journalist," said Gen. Hussein Kamal, the deputy interior minister in charge of domestic intelligence. "We cannot say more because of the sensitivity of the matter, but God willing, the end will be positive."\nCarroll was seen in a video shown on an Arab TV station late Tuesday for the first time since her Jan. 7 abduction in Baghdad.\nArab broadcaster Al-Jazeera said the silent 20-second video showing Carroll appearing pale and tired also included a threat to kill her in 72 hours if U.S. authorities didn't release all Iraqi women in military custody. U.S. military spokeswoman Sgt. Stacy Simon said eight Iraqi women are currently detained, but provided no other details.\nCarroll was abducted in one of Baghdad's most dangerous neighborhoods as she was being driven to meet a Sunni Arab politician, who failed to appear for the interview. Carroll's translator was killed during the abduction.\nIn the video, Carroll is wearing a white-colored pullover, while her long, straight, brown hair is parted in the middle and pulled back from her face as she speaks into the camera. Al-Jazeera would not tell the AP how it received the tape, but the station issued its own statement calling for Carroll's release.\nA still photograph of Carroll from the videotape appeared on Al-Jazeera's Web site carrying a logo of "The Revenge Brigade," a group that was not previously known from other claims of responsibility of violence in Iraq.\nThe Christian Science Monitor said Carroll arrived in Iraq in 2003 and began filing stories for the newspaper early last year.\nCarroll's father, Jim, issued a statement Tuesday in which he called his daughter "an innocent journalist."\n"We respectfully ask that you please show her mercy and allow her to return home to her mother, sister and family," the statement said.\nThe family's statement said Carroll understands the daily hardships being suffered by the Iraqis.\n"Jill is a friend and sister to many Iraqis and has been dedicated to bringing the truth of the Iraq war to the world," it said. "We appeal for the speedy and safe return of our beloved daughter and sister."\nIn the resolution of another kidnapping, the sister of Interior Minister Bayan Jabr was released and was at home, said Ali al-Khaqani, a secretary to Jabr. He refused to give more details, including her name, when she was released or whether a ransom was paid. She was abducted Jan. 3 in an attack in which a bodyguard was killed and another seriously injured.\nJabr is a member of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq -- the country's largest Shiite party -- and as interior minister plays a key role in battling the Sunni-led insurgency. The minister has in recent weeks been focus of criticism over his ministry's handling of detainees in Iraqi prisons.