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ByRobertBurns and Vivian Salama The Associated Press WASHINGTON The U.S. soldier fatally wounded in a hostage rescue mis- sion in Iraq heroically in- serted himself into a fire- fight to defend Kurdish sol- diers, even though the plan called for the Kurds to do the fighting, Defense Secre- tary Ash Carter said Friday. "This is someone who saw the team that he was advising and assisting com- ing under attack, and he rushed to help them and made it possible for them to be effective, and in do- ing that lost his own life," Carter told a Pentagon news conference. Carter applauded Army Master Sgt. Joshua L. Wheeler, 39, of Roland, Oklahoma, who died of his wounds Thursday. The defense chief gave the most extensive pub- lic description yet of what transpired during the pre- dawn raid on an Islamic State prison compound near the town of Hawija. About 70 people, including at least 20 members of the Iraqi security forces, were freed. It was the first time U.S. troops had become involved in direct ground combat in Iraq since the war against the Islamic State was launched in Au- gust 2014, and Wheeler was the first U.S. combat death. CarterportrayedWheeler as a hero and said he would be present when Wheeler's body is returned to the U.S. on Saturday. "As the compound was being stormed, the plan was not for the U.S. ... forces to enter the compound or be involved in the firefight," Carter said. "However, when a firefight ensued, this American did what I'm very proud that Americans do in that situation, and he ran to the sound of the guns and he stood up. All the indications are that it was his actions and that of one of his teammates that protected those who were involved in breaching the compound and made the mission a success." "That is an inherent risk that we ask people to assume," Carter added. "Again, it wasn't part of the plan, but it was some- thing that he did, and I'm immensely proud that he did that." Carter noted that his un- derstanding of what hap- pened is based on early re- ports. After his remarks at the Pentagon, other U.S. offi- cials said the plan for the rescue mission had called for the U.S. special opera- tions troops, who are mem- bers of the elite and secre- tive Delta Force, to stay back from the prison com- pound and let the Kurds do the fighting. The Ameri- cans transported the Kurds to the scene aboard five U.S. helicopters. Carter said the U.S. and its Kurdish partners col- lected valuable intelligence at the scene, including doc- uments and electronics. This, he said, shows "the great value of raids of this kind, and I expect we'll do more of these kinds of things." In explaining his deci- sion to approve the use of U.S. troops to support the Kurds in their rescue mis- sion, Carter said there was intelligence indicating that those inside the prison com- pound faced mass execu- tion by their Islamic State captors. "Their graves had al- ready been prepared," he said. Asked how he knew this, Carter said: "It hap- pens that we had seen that beforehand. We were watching this compound" after Kurdish authorities determined that it held nu- merous hostages. "The graves were right next door to the com- pound," he said, adding that although it was impossible to know for certain that their purpose was to dis- pose of executed prisoners, "it sure looked like that." The Defense Depart- ment said Wheeler, a na- tive of Oklahoma, died from wounds caused by small- arms fire during the oper- ation. He was assigned to the U.S. Army Special Oper- ations Command in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. U.S. combat troops have rarely, if ever, participated directly in combat against IS fighters on the ground since the U.S. mission be- gan in 2014. The U.S. has mostly limited its role to training and advising Iraqi and Kurdish forces, air- dropping humanitarian re- lief supplies and providing daily airstrikes in IS-held areas of Iraq and Syria. HOSTAGE RESCUE Carter:SoldierheroicallyenteredKurdish-ISfirefight USARMY Master Sgt. Joshua Wheeler. Wheeler was killed in a raid against the Islamic State group in northern Iraq. By Matthew Lee The Associated Press VIENNA The United States, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey put forward new ideas Friday to revive a failed push for a politi- cal transition in Syria that could end the country's civil war, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Friday. But they remained deeply di- vided over the future of Syr- ian President Bashar Assad. The top diplomats from the four countries agreed to meet again in an ex- panded format with repre- sentatives from other na- tions next week, but the only concrete result of this week's talks appeared to be an agreement between Jor- dan and Russia to coordi- nate military operations in Syria. Kerry said there was no decision on whether to invite Iran, a major patron of Syria. Kerry said that he, Rus- sian Foreign Minister Ser- gey Lavrov, Saudi For- eign Minister Adel al-Ju- beir and Turkish Foreign Minister Feridun Sinirlio- glu went over proposals to restart moribund talks on how to create a transitional government for Syria. After the meeting, Kerry told reporters the "meeting was constructive and pro- ductive and succeeded in surfacing some ideas, which I am not going to share to- day, but which I hope have a possibility of changing the dynamic." Lavrov said he has in- vited the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Turkey to join a coor- dination center that Russia and Jordan agreed earlier Friday would be used to in- tegrate their air campaigns over Syria. Jordan is a mem- ber of the U.S.-led coalition bombing Islamic State facil- ities in Iraq and Syria. The coalition has so far refused to cooperate with Russia's operations beyond a basic agreement intended to pre- vent mid-air incidents. Mo- hammad al-Momani, Jor- danian government spokes- man said the agreement did not mean that Jordan was leaving the coalition. Kerry, who is traveling to Jordan later Friday for talks with King Abdullah II and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, said the new ideas "are in keeping with all of the principles that have been laid down and with sensitivities of the nations and the parties, the opposition, all those in- volved in this effort." He said Friday's participants would meet again as early as next Friday. A leading Syrian opposi- tion group, the Syrian Na- tional Council, said it still aimed for Assad's ouster. "We will not accept the presence of Assad for one day in the transitional pe- riod," said Anas al-Abdah, a member of the coalition, in a statement emailed to AP. The U.S., Turkey and Saudi Arabia all share the view that Assad must go if the conflict is to be re- solved. Russia began air- strikes in Syria last month that it said were aimed at Islamic State militants, but the U.S. and its allies say the bombing is bolstering Assad rather than target- ing militants. Kerry said that the U.S. and allied nations "under- stand that Assad creates an impossible dynamic for peace." Kerry suggested po- litical talks could patch up the differences. SYRIA 4 regional powers mull transition ideas RONALD ZAK — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry leaves a hotel a er a meeting in Vienna, Austria, on Friday. By Mohammed Daraghmeh The Associated Press RAMALLAH, WEST BANK Muslim prayers at a ma- jor Jerusalem shrine, the epicenter of weeks of un- rest, ended peacefully Fri- day after Israel lifted re- strictions on worshippers in an apparent bid to ease tensions. Meanwhile,violencecon- tinued in the West Bank where Palestinians threw a firebomb at an Israeli car, wounding a mother and her two children. An Is- raeli news site said one of the children, a 4-year-old girl, was badly burned. The decision to allow Muslims of all ages to pray at the site coincided with a diplomaticpushbyU.S.Sec- retaryofStateJohnKerryto restore calm. This includes getting all sides to agree on thegroundrulesattheMus- lim-run shrine and prevent future tensions. Kerry is meeting over the weekend with Jordan's King Abdullah II, custo- dian of the holy site, and Palestinian President Mah- moud Abbas, after holding talks Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In New York, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who just re- turned from talks with Is- raeli and Palestinian lead- ers, said that "despite the anger and the polariza- tion, there is still time to step back from the brink." In Vienna, the Quartet of Mideast mediators — the U.S., U.N., European Union and Russia— issued a statement calling on Is- rael and the Palestinian leadership to show "maxi- mum restraint and avoid- ance of provocative rhet- oric and actions." Quartet envoys will travel to the re- gion soon. The Quartet statement was released after a meet- ing of high-ranking mem- bers on the sidelines of Syria talks. It said calm is needed to "restore confi- dence and hope in the vi- ability of a negotiated two- state solution" between Is- rael and the Palestinians, ending "the occupation that began in 1967" and re- solving the status of Jeru- salem. 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