BAQUBA • The US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said yesterday that US officials had been arrogant and made many mistakes during efforts to rebuild Iraq after the 2003 invasion. "It's important to recognise that mistakes have been made over the last few years. There have been times when US officials have behaved arrogantly and were not receptive to advice from local leaders," he told Iraqi officials. "We have made mistakes in the process of rebuilding Iraq," he said. "The path for success is clear. We are committed to helping Iraq stand on its own two feet," he added, speaking three-and-a-half years after US-led forces toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Iranian kills cinema usher

TEHRAN • An Iranian man killed a cinema usher in a knife rampage in a Tehran theater against what he said was moral corruption in the Islamic republic, the press reported yesterday. The 23-year-old, identified only as Mostafa, stabbed the usher before a Wednesday movie show in Cinema Bahman and attacked other staff before being arrested by police. "I believe cinema is haram (prohibited by Islamic law) and I wanted to promote virtue and eliminate vice," Etemad newspaper quoted the assailant as saying. "We have tried to give verbal advice for a long time, but it did not work. So I took my knife and came to the cinema to eliminate morally corrupt people," he told police. Local judiciary official Reza Jafari said the man was an example of "dogmatism and violence" and suggested he was suffering a mental disorder while Ayandeh No newspaper said police suspected he was under the influence of drugs at the time.