Baghdad, Iraq ? Representatives of a U.S. Muslim advocacy group joined in appealing Saturday for the release of American journalist Jill Carroll as a deadline set by kidnappers passed with no word on her fate. At least 12 Iraqis died in bombings and shootings nationwide.

The U.S. military said Saturday a suicide car bomber killed two American Marines a day earlier in the volatile Anbar provincial town of Haqlaniyah, northwest of Baghdad. At least 2,224 U.S. military personnel have died since the Iraq war began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Sunnis ready to talk

Sunni Arab politicians, meanwhile, said they were ready for talks to join a new government of national unity – hailed by the United States as a necessary step to curb the Sunni-led insurgency and pave the way for American forces to go home.

But the politicians also said they would appeal results of the Dec. 15 election to a judicial commission, which has two weeks to rule on the challenges. The appeals are unlikely to effect the results, which were released Friday, but could delay the convening of parliament.

An Iraqi man weeps after a roadside attack injured his child Saturday in Baghdad, Iraq. Three Iraqis were injured when a roadside bomb detonated on a busy downtown street.

Muslims appeal for release

Two members of the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations flew to Baghdad on Saturday to appeal for the release of Carroll, a 28-year-old freelancer for the Christian Science Monitor abducted Jan. 7 in western Baghdad.

“We are the only people who have come from outside of Iraq to call for Jill’s release, and we are very hopeful they will hear our message on behalf of American Muslims,” the group’s executive director, Nihad Awad, said at Baghdad International Airport. “Harming her will do them no good at all. The only way is to release her.”

The delegation had hoped to meet with Iraqi Muslims to explore ways to win the journalist’s freedom. But underscoring the uncertainties in Iraq, the representatives were unable to obtain safe transport into the city and instead spoke by telephone with Iraqi figures.

The American Muslim advocates planned to return to neighboring Jordan today, but a raging sandstorm threatened to stop all flights and leave them stranded.

Carroll was leaving the office of prominent Sunni Arab politician Adnan al-Dulaimi when her car was waylaid, her translator was killed and she was abducted. The driver escaped.

The journalist has since been seen only in footage obtained and aired by Al-Jazeera TV station Tuesday. Her kidnappers, identified as a previously unknown group called “The Revenge Brigade,” threatened to kill Carroll if all Iraqi female prisoners weren’t released within 72 hours.

Maj. Gen. Hussein Ali Kamal said “intensive and earnest efforts” were under way at “a high level” to find the kidnappers, but he refused to elaborate.

No word on journalist’s fate

The kidnappers have issued no word since the deadline passed Friday night. An Iraqi official said six of the nine women under U.S. detention were expected to be released this coming week, although there was no U.S. confirmation.

The official, Deputy Justice Minister Busho Ibrahim Ali, said the releases and ongoing investigations for the other three women had been tentatively planned before the kidnappers’ ultimatum.

“I am making some contacts with the American side to hasten their release because this action might help hastening the release of the kidnapped journalist,” Ali told The Associated Press.

News of another high-profile abduction surfaced Saturday when footage of Hussein Sabah, the son of the secretary to Iraqi Defense Minister Saadoun al-Dulaimi, a Sunni, aired on al-Arabiya TV station Saturday.

The kidnappers of Sabah, who was abducted about 10 days ago in Baghdad’s Mansour suburb, demanded that the Iraqi government end its cooperation with United States.