In the capital Baghdad, mortar shells exploded late Monday, shattering windows and causing minor damage to homes in the east of the city. At least two projectiles exploded near center city hotels favored by Westerners but caused no casualties.
Relatives said a 17-year-old newlywed, who was married six days ago, was alone at home Monday when she was taken away by U.S. troops and kept in custody for five hours before being freed unharmed.
The arrest inflamed passions in Fallujah, a stridently anti-American city in a deeply religious country where women's dignity is equated with family honor.
Hundreds of people poured into the streets of Fallujah on Monday night after hearing the news and continued demonstrating Tuesday, shouting "Bush, you coward!" and "Release our woman!" They dispersed without incident by noon.
The U.S. Army did not immediately confirm the arrest or her release.
Maher Turki, the woman's brother-in-law, said the soldiers were looking for his brother in the hope he would lead them to Khamis Sarhan, the leader of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s Baath party in Fallujah. Sarhan is wanted by occupation forces and has a $1 million bounty on his head.
Turki said his brother, who has fled, was acquainted with Sarhan but was not an associate. Turki said the troops were not looking for his second brother, who is married to the arrested woman.
"The girl was alone so they took her because they know our weakness. When they take our honor they know we will come to them," Turki told The Associated Press.
He refused to identify his sister-in-law, saying she was hospitalized with her husband, recovering from the shock of custody.
"But in all honesty, she was treated well. They only had woman soldiers deal with her. They did not harm her. They didn't touch one hair on her head," he said.
Fallujah, about 40 miles west of Baghdad, is a predominantly Sunni city and was steadfastly loyal to Saddam's Sunni-dominated regime during and after the American-led invasion.
While anti-U.S. sentiments have been widespread in Sunni areas, the occupation authorities also face anger in southern Shiite towns over the hardships persisting nine months after Saddam's regime collapsed. Shiites are a majority in Iraq (news - web sites) but were long suppressed by Saddam.
On Monday, Ukrainian troops in the southern Shiite city of Kut fired bullets in the air to control a riot by hundreds of people demanding food and jobs. The demonstrators also hurled explosives, injuring one Ukrainian soldier and four Iraqi policemen, said Lt. Zafer Wedad, an Iraqi police official.
The violence in Kut, 90 miles southeast of Baghdad, followed a similar demonstration in another southern city, Amarah, on Sunday.
Unrest among the Shiites has grown as their spiritual leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani, has spoken out against a U.S.-backed formula for transferring power to the Iraqis.
In a full-page newspaper advertisement Monday, al-Sistani repeated his demand that a proposed provisional legislature be elected rather than chosen by regional committees, as called for under a Nov. 15 agreement between the U.S.-led coalition and the U.S.-picked Iraqi Governing Council.
But the top U.S. administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer, said Monday the Nov. 15 pact is "the best way forward to return sovereignty to the Iraqi people."
American military officials said Monday that insurgent attacks against coalition forces declined to a daily average of 17 in the past week, compared with 30 before Saddam was captured Dec. 13. Most of the attacks are believed carried out by supporters of the ousted regime.
In the latest violence, a 1st Armored Division soldier was killed in the Baghdad on Monday. No details were available. The slaying increased the American death toll to 495, with most of the deaths occurring after President Bush (news - web sites) declared an end to major hostilities May 1.
Also, the Army said Monday that U.S. soldiers shot dead seven of the estimated 40 members of an armed gang allegedly trying to steal oil from a pipeline south of Samarra, 60 miles north of Baghdad.