Missing US soldiers found dead in Iraq

by James Hossack

Shopping @ Lebanon.com
Sweets - Arts - CDs - DVDs - Flowers - Mixed Nuts - Coffee - Wine & Arak - Gifts Delivery inside Lebanon and Worldwide

BAGHDAD, June 28 (AFP) - US forces in Iraq recovered the bodies of two soldiers missing for three days after apparently being abducted, the military said Saturday, while a separate attack left one soldier dead and four wounded.

The bodies of the two soldiers were found around 35 kilometres (20 miles) northwest of Baghdad, near where they went missing on Wednesday, Lieutenant Colonel Martin Compton told AFP, without elaborating. The discovery came after the latest in a series of anti-US attacks in which one soldier was killed when the convoy he was in was ambushed in Baghdad late on Friday, spokesman Sergeant First Class Patrick Compton said.

An Iraqi translator was also injured in the ambush, he said. It followed a rocket-propelled grenade attack in the flashpoint town of Fallujah, which according to witnesses destroyed a US armoured vehicle. There were no reports of US casualties in that attack.

Almost daily ambushes and the rising death toll prompted US Secretary of  State Colin Powell to urge Americans to be patient, while the tactics used by former Baathist militia showed worrying signs of diversifying. US soldiers patrolling the country have regularly been targeted by snipers, gunmen and attackers using rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), but the apparent abduction of two soldiers further added to the climate of insecurity.

The soldiers went missing in Saddam Hussein's former heartland north of  Baghdad. Three people had been arrested in connection with their apparent abduction, the military said Friday. Coalition forces meanwhile announced that they had detained more than 900 loyalists of Saddam Hussein in the last week who have been "subverting" US efforts to rebuild Iraq.

"In the last week, we have detained more than 900 former regime loyalists, former Fedayeen and other criminals that are out there subverting our efforts," a senior coalition military official said, asking not to be named. He said some of those arrested had been released, but did not specify how many remained in detention.

"Under Operation Desert Scorpion, we continue to conduct raids as we get intelligence to be able to take down these subversive elements that remain," he added. "We are suffering casualties... the war hasn't ended... but these casualties that we are encountering are not causing us to falter in any way," he added.

Another US military spokesman, speaking before the two soldiers were found dead, refused to concede that attacks on US troops were intensifying, after a week in which 11 British and US soldiers were killed. "I think it's probably too early to tell if we're seeing an increase," Major William Thurmond said, adding that some attacks may have been a reaction to the Desert Scorpion campaign to wipe out remnants of the ousted regime.

"Virtually every day there has been an attack of some form against coalition soldiers," Thurmond told AFP, adding: "There are people in Iraq who do not want the coalition to succeed." "There is definitely a small number of very committed people, former Baathists, who do not have a place in the Iraq that's coming and they have an interest in seeing to it that we have a difficult time doing our mission."

When asked if the US public needed to prepare itself for a steady trickle of US combat fatalities, Thurmond said: "No, I don't really think so." But the rising death toll -- more than 20 US troops have now been killed by hostile fire since the war was declared effectively over on May 1 -- prompted Powell on Friday to say he hoped the attacks would not feed domestic pressure for US forces to pull out of Iraq.

"I would say to the American people that we always recognised this would be a dangerous operation," Powell told National Public Radio. "And even though major combat action is over ... we always expected there would be this residual problem of Fedayeen, of the Baath Party members, of old Saddam cronies and others who are coming in to make mischief, and they would have to be dealt with," Powell said.

"I hope the American people will demonstrate the patience and the understanding of the situation," he added. But in a further sign of Washington's edginess over the mounting guerrilla-style warfare, the Pentagon said a group of independent US policy experts was due in Baghdad to assess the postwar state of the country.

The five-member group will report to Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and chief US administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, a Pentagon spokesman said. The attacks, meanwhile, are sapping US morale and represent a constant threat for troops, many of whom have been in Iraq for months, enduring long hours on patrol in temperatures reaching the mid 40s Celsius (112 degrees Fahrenheit).

Senate confirms Abizaid as head of US Central Command

WASHINGTON, June 28 (AFP) - The Senate Friday confirmed the nomination of  Lieutenant General John Abizaid to replace General Tommy Franks as head of the US Central Command in charge of US forces in Iraq and other key areas. President George W. Bush tapped Abizaid, 52, for the post overseeing troops in a region that stretches from Egypt to Afghanistan earlier this month.

The Arab-American general has been serving since December as Franks's deputy in charge of US military operations in Iraq. "Within days, a change of command will take place, such that he will succeed General Franks as the commander of the US Central Command," Senator John Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said of Abizaid Friday.

"I think General Franks has performed his duties with extraordinary professionalism, courage and conviction, and his strength of mind and knowledge were an inspiration to all members of the armed forces who served in his command throughout the ongoing operations in Afghanistan and the ongoing operations in Iraq."

He added: "We are fortunate now to have an individual whom General Franks encouraged the president and the secretary of defense to have succeed him, and that is General Abizaid." Warner said Abizaid -- an expert in Arabic affairs with a master's degree in Middle Eastern studies from Harvard University -- "brings a unique perspective to this post.

"He is truly an expert and a student in this region. He is currently serving his fifth tour of duty in the Middle East. He is fluent in Arabic and has a proud -- and I underline this, a proud family heritage closely tied to the cultures of this region of the world," Warner said.

"I am pleased this morning that the Senate has confirmed him, and we will shortly notify the president," he said. Franks is scheduled to retire in early July, but no date has been set for the new commander to take over. The region in which the Central Command operates encompasses 25 countries in the Middle East and Southwest Asia, an area that spans some 3,100 miles (5,000 kilometers) east to west and 3,600 miles (5,750 kilometers) north to south.

It includes the world's largest oil reserves in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf and major trade routes through the Suez Canal and the Red Sea. The United States has about 250,000 troops in the region, including 145,000 troops in Iraq, another 9,000 in Afghanistan and about 1,500 in the Horn of  Africa, military spokesmen say.

Abizaid is assuming command at a time of dramatic changes in the region as a result of the US-led invasion of Iraq. In addition to the occupation of Iraq, he will be overseeing a withdrawal of US forces from Saudi Arabia and a continuing struggle against al-Qaeda militants.

Abizaid, who is of Lebanese descent, studied at the University of Jordan in Amman and served as an operations officer with a UN Observer Group in Lebanon. A West Point graduate, his 30-year military career has spanned US actions from Grenada to Kosovo. Abizaid is married and has three grown children.

Quartet wants to extend road map to Lebanon and Syria: UN envoy

BEIRUT, June 27 (AFP) - The authors of the so-called roadmap for peace in the Middle East want to extend the plan to bring an end to the conflicts involving Israel, Lebanon and Syria, a United Nations official said Friday. After talks with Lebanese leader Emile Lahoud, UN regional envoy Terje Roed-Larsen said the quartet of the UN, United States, Russia and the European Union, which drew up the plan, want to see it as an all-embracing blueprint for peace in the region.

"I have assured President Lahoud that we have every intention of making this process a comprehensive process, encompassing both the Lebanese and the Syrian tracks, consistent with the text of the roadmap. "The text of the roadmap states explicitly that we are seeking a peace that encompasses Syria and Lebanon, and the issues relevant," he added. "Syria and Lebanon are already in the roadmap plan, but of course we have down the road to discuss specific issues, particularly occupation, for these two countries."

Repsentatives of the quartet discussed the issue at last week's World Economic Forum in Jordan, Roed-Larsen said. The roadmap is currently aimed at stopping 33 months of bloodshed and paving the way for the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005. Syria demands that Israel withdraw from the Golan Heights which it occupied in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, while Lebanon has similar demands over the Shebaa Farms, an enclave between the three countries, also taken over in 1967. Roed-Larsen said he would travel to Damascus on Saturday for talks with Syrian leaders on the question.

Sahhaf says he knows nothing about Saddam, war facts were misinterpreted

DUBAI, June 26 (AFP) - Former Iraqi information minister Mohammed Said as-Sahhaf, who dropped out of sight after the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, said in a television interview Thursday he knew nothing about his ex-boss. "I know nothing," Sahhaf told Abu Dhabi television in Baghdad when asked whether he knew anything about "the former leadership."

He refused to comment on a suggestion that "it was the Iraqis, not America, who toppled Saddam" by failing to resist the US-led invasion forces. Sahhaf became famous for his upbeat assessments of the military situation that were in stark contrast with developments on the ground. He said the information he gave out was correct at the time, but the "interpretation" of  this information by Iraqi officials was not accurate.

Abu Dhabi TV aired the interview shortly after Dubai-based Al-Arabiya news channel broadcast excerpts of an interview with Sahhaf in which he said he had turned himself in to US forces who released him after questioning.

The excerpts aired by Al-Arabiya ahead of the full interview to be broadcast Friday were the first appearance by Sahhaf since the demise of  Saddam's regime on April 9.

Blast kills Iraq power worker as Baghdad faces fourth day of outages

by James Hossack

BAGHDAD, June 26 (AFP) - A driver for the Iraqi power utility was killed by an improvised explosive device Thursday as much of Baghdad went into a fourth sweltering day without electricity following the sabotage of a key power line.

Witnesses said two US armoured vehicles were escorting the power company car at the time of the attack on the main highway between Baghdad airport and the city centre although there were no immediate reports of US casualties. "We are not sure of the type of explosive used," Lieutenant Sean McWilliams said at the scene, but a US army spokesman said attackers had fired a rocket propelled grenade.

"The vehicle was attacked by one RPG and an improvised explosive," Colonel Guy Shields said. Iraqi police said a hand grenade was suspected. Damage sustained by the vehicle was not consistent with a direct hit by an RPG, according to a reporter who saw the vehicle. Shields also denied reports from Iraqis that the vehicle had been under US escort.

"Information we have so far indicates there was no US soldier killed," he said, adding that one Iraqi had been killed. The attack came as Iraqis expressed growing anger over Washington's inability to ensure basic services in the capital two-and-a-half months after the entry of US troops.

The occupation authority's insistence that the power outages are the work of Saddam Hussein loyalists meets with exasperation from ordinary Baghdadis forced to make do without refrigeration or air conditioning in temperatures as high as the mid 40s Centigrade (112 degrees Fahrenheit).

"It's all lies. The Americans want to test our patience. If this situation continues I will follow anyone who declares jihad," or holy war, said Nabil Kareem, 32, an unemployed former factory worker. "We're all suffering from the heat. It's sweaty and dirty." The head of the power distribution plant in the capital, Nafae Abdulsada Ali, said the city was operating on one quarter of its power needs. "Baghdad needs 2,400 megawatts ... but is getting only 600 megawatts at the moment," he said, noting that demand usually spikes by 30 percent in the summer months as temperatures soar.

"Work is under way at the main electricity plants supplying the capital's power grid," an unnamed official at the Iraqi electricity authority added. "Power cuts will therefore continue in Baghdad for at least eight to 10 hours a day," he said, urging US-led coalition forces to provide protection for employees of his authority. The head of a power station in western Baghdad was shot dead Wednesday by unknown gunmen, an Iraqi official earlier said, adding that power cuts could have driven some residents to single out power officials as scapegoats.

The top US civil administrator in Iraq has accused remnants of the banned Baath party of sabotaging US efforts to rebuild the country and causing the outage in Baghdad, most of which has been without power since early Monday. With four suspected sabotage strikes on fuel pipelines in the past two weeks, Paul Bremer said Wednesday security would be boosted to protect energy infrastructure deemed vital to rebuilding efforts.

"Almost certainly the saboteurs are rogue Baathist elements," he added, a day after a senior official admitted the coalition was suffering from "small pockets that seek to project an image to the Iraqi people that life is worse for them now than it was before."

Aladin Mustapha, a 48-year-old former bus driver, now without work, said he distrusted the US explanation, adding: "My patience is running out. I cannot sleep at night because of the heat. "Bremer was lying. Even though we are weak, we do have minds to think. This is all about politics," he said. "They're just trying to make us hate Saddam Hussein, but we already hated him. Be honest with us," he pleaded.

Bremer acknowledged Wednesday there were what he termed "problems" with water and power supplies in Baghdad, but claimed the authorities had made great progress in restoring supplies to the capital since the end of the war. Coalition efforts to get Iraq and its oil-dependent economy up and running after the crippling effect of 13 years of international sanctions and the war, have been hit by a spate of suspected sabotage blasts on fuel pipelines.

The hundreds of kilometres (miles) of pipelines are crucial to US plans to get large-scale oil exports going to pay the huge cost of reconstruction.

Rumsfeld: no reason to believe US raid killed senior Iraqis

by Jim Mannion

WASHINGTON, June 24 (AFP) - US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday he had no reason to believe senior Iraqis were killed in a US raid on a convoy near the Syrian border last week in which US forces ended up fighting Syrian border guards.

More than five days after the raid in western Iraq, Rumsfeld and General Richard Myers, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were unable to say how many people were killed, who they were or whether US forces crossed into Syria in the course of the operation.

They said people were still sorting through what happened. "I'm confident we had very good intelligence," Myers told reporters. He said the raid was launched early Thursday by Task Force 20, a secret  unit set up to hunt down members of the deposed Baathist regime, including Saddam Hussein and his two sons.

"This raid was based on intelligence gained from the recent capture of leaders of the toppled regime," Myers said. "We struck two elements of the convoy, one on a highway and one in the compound. We are continuing to gather information from this strike, so we don't have any additional details at the moment."

A villager identified as Ahmed Hamad told the Washington Post that his sister-in-law and her year old child were killed by a US rocket that slammed into a house in the village of Dhib, whose residents live by smuggling livestock across the border.

He said the US forces struck four trucks used to carry livestock along the border. The White House on Monday said Iraqi leaders were the targets of the operation, and defense officials said the convoy of six or seven vehicles was believed to be carrying regime figures when it was struck.

But asked whether senior Iraqi leaders were taken out, Rumsfeld said, "I have no reason to believe that." He said he did not know who was killed in the raid. "We're trying to find out." "There were reasons, good reasons to believe that the vehicles that were violating the curfew that existed in that area were doing it for reasons other than normal commerce," he said.

"And they were close to the Syrian border, and there were perfectly logical rules of engagement that dealt with the situation," he added. Rumsfeld declined to say whether the rules allowed US forces to cross into Syria in hot pursuit of their quarry.

US forces were holding five Syrian border guards, three of whom were injured in the fighting and received medical treatment. Rumsfeld indicated that the United States was in contact with Damascus over the incident. Syria has made no public comment. The raid was a major operation involving ground forces backed by an AC-130 gunships and helicopters.

Defense officials said 20 people were apprehended, but most were later released when it was determined they posed no threat. With US forces under almost daily hit and run attacks, they have stepped up the search for Saddam, his sons and senior Baathists in an effort to squelch resistance. Saddam's closest aid, Abid Hamid Mahmud, was captured just days before the raid, raising US hopes of capturing or accounting for the Iraqi strongman.

Lebanon drugs use soars

BEIRUT, June 23 (AFP) - More than half of Lebanese under 24 use soft or hard drugs, compared with only five percent 12 years ago, a press report said Monday, quoting research by specialist groups. As Safir said drugs were easily obtainable in Lebanon, dismissing as "media hype" a statement by Interior Minister Elias Murr when he declared 2002 the "year of drug eradication."

Figures compiled by Um an Nur showed that when it was founded in 1989 to alert young people to the dangers of drug taking and addiction just five percent of Lebanese under 24 used drugs. At the end of 2002 the proportion stood at 55 percent. As Safir also quoted a 2001 study carried out by the association Idrak in cooperation with a major Beirut hospital whose findings, published by the United Nations, showed that 11 percent of senior high school pupils and 22 percent of university students had tried sift drugs or amphetamines at least once.

Jad, another association dealing with drug-related problems, claimed for its part that 80 percent of those who smoked cannabis went on to other drugs, notably ecstasy, which is rendy among young Lebanese, especially women.

Russia will 'insist' Iraq business contracts are honoured: Putin

LONDON, June 22 (AFP) - Russia's President Vladimir Putin on Sunday served notice that his country expects to have many of its business contracts with the old Iraqi regime honoured, saying this was backed by international law. "We agree that the future Iraqi government must make its own decisions on some of those projects," he said in an interview with Britain's BBC television ahead of a visit to London next week.

"But the Iraqi side must fulfill its obligations in compliance with the law, and of course we will be insisting that some of those projects do go ahead," Putin argued. "We think it's quite justified in terms of current international law. Let me tell you, we have every reason to count on the support of international legal bodies," he told the Breakfast with Frost programme in an interview recorded on Friday.

"I must add that my partners, both the British prime minister and the US president, do not deny that Russian firms have the right to take part in the reconstruction of Iraq." Russia had extensive business ties with the regime of Saddam Hussein, ousted by a US-led military campaign.

Moscow was a vehement opponent of the war, and Washington has hinted that nations which did not support the conflict will not be favoured when contracts to rebuild Iraq's shattered infrastructure are handed out. However Putin argued that Russia's long involvement in Iraq meant there were sound reasons for allowing this to continue. "We should be realistic, and the reality is that the situation in Iraq is very difficult indeed, and it will become even more difficult if we fail to understand that we need to work together to get the situation back to normal," he said.

"A large section of Iraq's industry and economy is based on Soviet and Russian technology -- not the most advanced but nevertheless still functioning. "That means that the assets that are there and need to be put back will need spare parts, technical support and so on," he argued. "The cheapest and the most efficient way to do all that is to involve Russian experts."

The Russian leader was also asked about the location of issue of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, which both Britain and the United States said ahead of the war were primed and ready for use. US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have since come under intense political pressure to explain why no chemical weapons or biological weapons have yet been found. "Perhaps you should ask the prime minister and the president," Putin said  with a smile.