But on Wednesday, U.S. military spokesman Rear Adm. Gregory Smith said
the women — one of whom was married — had undergone psychiatric treatment
but were not diagnosed as having Down syndrome. Smith said neither of the
women had a criminal record.
"Both had recently received psychiatric treatment for depression and/or
schizophrenia," Smith said. "From what we know now there's no indication
that they had
Down syndrome."
"Iraqi and coalition forces will relentlessly pursue terrorist leaders
like Abu Karrar who plan al Qaeda's indiscriminate attacks on innocent
civilians," U.S. military spokesman Maj. Winfield Danielson said on
Wednesday.
Abu Karrar was killed on Feb. 17 as he tried to flee his vehicle at a
military roadblock. Iraqi and U.S. soldiers fired and killed Abu Karrar and
an associate.
Officials said Al Qaida was increasingly using women as suicide bombers,
particularly in the Baghdad region. They said women often achieved greater
access to their targets than male attackers.
Iraqi authorities have sought to remove the homeless from the streets of
Baghdad to prevent Al Qaida from using them as bombers. Officials said
police were
ordered to remove beggars, homeless and mentally retarded people from the
Iraqi capital as well as other cities.
