Focus shifts to north, US says Baghdad 'still an ugly place'
( 2003-04-11 08:10 ) (7 )

An Iraqi man lays out portraits of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein removed from classrooms at a school in the city of Nassiriya where a cache of Iraqi weapons was found on April 10, 2003. [Reuters]

Several hundred Kurdish fighters under the command of 100 American special force fighters took control of the oil town of Kirkuk Thursday as the focus of the American campaign switched to the northern part of Iraq.

The forces moved into the city after three hours of fighting and with little damage to the oil fields, according to reporters on the scene.

In an incident that is sure to heighten tensions, a prominent Islamic cleric, newly returned from exile, was killed by an angry mob in Najaf Thursday at one of Shia Muslims' holiest shrines.

Abdul Majid al Khoei, head of the philanthropic al Khoei Foundation and the son of the late Grand Ayatollah Abul-Qassim al-Khoei, who died under house arrest in Iraq a decade ago, was killed by members of a rival Shia group in an altercation at Najaf's Imam Ali Mosque. The mosque is said to be the tomb of Ali bin Abi Talib, the cousin of the prophet Muhammad and the figure that distinguishes the Shia sect from Islam's larger Sunni majority. The majority of Iraqis are Shias.

The death is the first case of internecine fighting that many people fear may plague Iraq now that Saddam Hussein has been pushed from power. Iraq is a country of hundreds of competing interest groups divided along ethnic, religious and tribal lines and many analysts have warned that the country could descend into a period of violence as old scores are settled and long dormant rivalries are revived.

In Baghdad, the American soldiers continued to consolidate their hold on the capital, with units of the Third Infantry Division pushing eastward from their position at the Baghdad International Airport. They met up with the Second Brigade which had been in the downtown area since Monday. Together, they secured the main route from the airport to the center after encountering two minefields along the way.

Despite the successes in the field, American military officials remained cautious about declaring victory in Iraq.

At the United States military's Central Command headquarters in Doha, Qatar, Navy Capt. Frank Thorp told reporters Thursday: "I would say again that we fully expect that there are fierce battles ahead, that there continues to be resistance and that the overall objective of bringing down the regime has not yet been achieved. But it will be."

He said American-led forces were still involved in sporadic fighting in Baghdad and other areas of Iraq.

"There are still some organized units of Republican Guard and regular army in the country, as well as remnants of the Republican Guard divisions that have coalesced into composite forces," the captain said.

That warning was underscored several hours later when a suicide bomber attacked an American checkpoint in Baghdad, wounding four marines, according to United States military officials.

Earlier in the day in Baghdad, the Marines First Division, Fifth Regiment faced Iraqi fighters armed with AK-47's and rocket-propelled grenades before securing the palace and a nearby mosque.

By the time the fighting ended, one marine was dead and more than 20 others were wounded, American military officials said.

The mosque was believed to be a stronghold of government loyalists and Saddam Hussein was rumored to be hiding there, according to the Marines. An estimated 20 Iraqi prisoners of war were captured, they said.

"We had information that a group of regime leadership was attempting to organize a meeting," Captain Thorp said at Central Command. "The fighting in and around the mosque complex could not be avoided as enemy forces were firing from the area of the mosque."

Before the suicide blast, the center of Baghdad was calm with only occasional bursts of automatic gun fire from remnants of Iraqi fighters hiding in buildings, under bridges and on rooftops.

Along the main road from the airport to the city center, in an area of embassies and residencies, Iraqis were seen looting the Chinese and Turkish embassies around midday. Otherwise, shops remained shuttered, and in Baghdad there was little sign of the widespread looting that ravaged the main buildings of Basra, the second city, immediately after it fell into coalition control earlier this week.

Baghdad residents seemed more intent Thursday on continuing to obliterate the symbols of Mr. Hussein. Thursday, American Marines tried to assist by setting explosives on an iron statue of the Iraqi leader in central Baghdad. But after flames shot up from the statue, it remained steadfast on its pedestal with just a hole ripped out at the groin.

In the north, a few hundred Kurds, working with about 100 Special Forces members, took control of Kirkuk. There appeared to be little damage to nearby oil fields; only one plume of smoke was visible.

Before the assault on Kirkuk, American commanders had said that it might take as many as three or four days before the town fell. But by midday, after about two to three hours of fighting, the special forces troops and their Kurdish allies were being mobbed by residents in the town square.

The attackers were aided by a popular uprising within the town, including a revolt at a local prison where inmates reportedly turned on and killed the officials running it.

After offering only light resistance, Iraqi military forces apparently abandoned their positions and disappeared, along with local government officials. It was unclear whether they fled to Tikrit, Mr. Hussein's hometown, or went into hiding among the populace.

American officials said their troops suffered no casualties in the attack. There was no accurate accounting on either Kurdish or Iraqi casualties, but a New York Times reporter traveling with the American forces said that he saw about 50 injured Kurdish fighters being treated at a local hospital and that most of them appeared to have minor injuries.

Residents toppled a statue of Mr. Hussein and scores of murals of the Iraqi leader scattered around town were either riddled with bullet holes or defaced.

As American forces passed through the main square they were greeted by jubilant residents, some holding signs that said, "Thank you to U.S.A."

Above the office of the local governor, one of the Kurdish fighters drew a crude heart and painted a misspelled victory note: "Victery to USA."

Hundreds of people from the countryside filed into Kirkuk after it fell, and along with the wild celebrations there was widespread looting.

[Turkey said Thursday that the Bush administration had promised that it would send in American reinforcements to replace the Kurdish fighters who captured Kirkuk and would allow Turkish military observers into the northern Iraqi city. Officials in Ankara, the Turkish capital, said that pledge came from Secretary of State Colin L. Powell on Wednesday after Turkey threatened to send its troops into the region if the Kurds were allowed to remain in control.

[Turkey, which has a large Kurdish population in the southeastern part of the country, is worried that the Kurds in neighboring northern Iraq might declare independence and try to carve out a separate state in post-war Iraq.] Away from the war front, there were diplomatic and political moves.

Washington and London began a new campaign Thursday aimed at winning over the Iraqi populace, when they began broadcasting messages from President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair telling the Iraqis that very soon they would be rid of Mr. Hussein.

"The nightmare that Saddam Hussein has brought to your nation will soon be over," Mr. Bush said in his message. "You deserve better than tyranny and corruption and torture chambers. You deserve to live as free people. And I assure every citizen of Iraq, your nation will soon be free."

In his message, Mr. Blair said: "Saddam Hussein's regime is collapsing and the years of brutality, oppression and fear are coming to an end. A new and better future beckons for the people of Iraq.

"We did not want this war, but in refusing to give up his weapons of mass destruction Saddam gave us no choice but to act. Now that the war has begun, it will be seen through to the end."

Reuters reported that the messages would be broadcast over a new Arabic television network, produced by the American and British governments, called Nahwa, Al Hurrieh, or "Toward Freedom." The British government said that the messages also will be broadcast for one hour a day from a United States Air Force plane flying over Iraq, Reuters reported.

The two leaders reportedly recorded the messages two day ago when they met for talks in Northern Ireland.

In the Arab world, leaders began to react to the collapse of the Iraqi regime with caution. In Egypt, President Hosni Mubarak, urged the United States to hand power back to the Iraqis as quickly as possible. In Saudi Arabia, the government controlled newspapers gave even-handed coverage. "Baghdad Falls, Saddam Disappears" and "Search On for Saddam" were headlines in two major dailies. The morning newspaper, Al Riyadh, warned that a collapse of law and order could lead to civil war.

In Kuwait, the most pro-American country in the region and from where the war was launched, officials gave an enthusiastic welcome to the fall of the regime. The arrival of the American troops in Baghdad was a victory for the liberation of Iraq, proclaimed Thursday morning's edition of The Kuwait Times.

Also in Kuwait, the retired American general, Jay Garner, who is set to become the civilian leader of Iraq, waited with his advisers for a more settled situation in Baghdad and other cities before venturing over the border.

In London, the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, announced that he would be sending an envoy to Syria and to Iran in the coming days to discuss post-war Iraq.

"It is important to maintain the dialogue with both these countries," Mr. Straw told the British Parliament. "Syria and Iran now have the chance to play their part in building a better future for Iraq."

And in Berlin, a government spokesman said Chancellor Gerhard Schr鰀er would meet with Mr. Blair on Tuesday to discuss the war in Iraq. Mr. Schr鰀er and President Jacques Chirac of France were two of the most outspoken critics of the war against Iraq and led the fight against the United Nations giving its sanctions for the attack.