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Foreign aid workers, contractors and journalists are increasingly becoming targets of kidnappings across Iraq. The Al-Jazeera news network broadcast a video of a captured American soldier who identifies himself as 20-year-old Pfc. Keith Maupin. An American and a Danish citizen were seized Friday in separate incidents, and dozens have been kidnapped over the past two weeks. Many have been released fairly quickly -- but one, an Italian, was murdered by his captors. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

Some 2,500 U.S. troops remain deployed on the outskirts of the Shiite Muslim holy city of Najaf, where radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is holed up. Iraqi and Iranian officials are meeting with Sadr in hopes of averting a full-scale assault on Najaf. NPR's Melissa Block talks with NPR's Philip Reeves.

NPR's Philip Reeves in Baghdad reports the ongoing battles between American troops and Iraqi insurgents are taking a toll on the U.S.-appointed Iraqi governing council. One council member has suspended participation and several others have threatened to resign in protest over the offensive by Marines in Fallujah and the battles between U.S.-led forces and supporters of a radical Shiite Muslim cleric.

Scattered clashes are reported in the region around Fallujah, though a cease-fire declared over the weekend is largely holding. Iraqi officials report 600 civilians have died in Fallujah since U.S. Marines launched an offensive there last Monday. Those fleeing the city accuse U.S. forces of firing randomly, causing numerous civilian casualties. Hear NPR's Philip Reeves.

Patti Smith hit the 1970s music scene with an ecstatic blend of poetry and rock. She credits that signature sound to lessons in free-verse defiance from Arthur Rimbaud and Bob Dylan.

Cease-fire negotiations have successfully stemmed violence in the city of Fallujah, where Marines have encircled the town. Attacks have continued elsewhere in Iraq, and several foreign citizens remain hostages. Hear NPR's Philip Reeves and NPR's Cheryl Corley.

U.S. Marines have reportedly halted street-to-street battles with insurgents in the Iraqi city of Fallujah. But despite a unilateral U.S. call for a truce, skirmishes continue there and in several other Iraqi cities on the first anniversary of the fall of Baghdad. NPR's Philip Reeves reports.

The battle for control of Fallujah galvanizes anti-American feeling among both Sunnis and Shiites. Large numbers of Iraqi men gather at mosques in Baghdad, bringing material aid and offering their support for the Sunni-dominated city. Hear NPR's Philip Reeves.

As U.S.-led forces in Iraq confront a growing insurgency, they face an ominous new developmtent: hostage-taking. American Marines continue to battle for control of the town of Fallujah, west of Baghdad. In southern Iraq, Shiite fighters loyal to radical cleric Muqtada Sadr are said to be in full control of two towns and parts of another. Hear NPR's Robert Siegel and NPR's Philip Reeves.

U.S. forces and their allies are now battling armed insurgents in several areas of Iraq. As Marines try to subdue violence in the so-called Sunni triangle, Shiite militia forces, loyal to firebrand cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, continue to mount attacks in southern Iraq. Hear NPR's Melissa Block and NPR's Philip Reeves.