Archives

FALLUJA, Iraq, Wednesday (Reuters) U.S. troops shot dead 13 Iraqis and wounded dozens taking part in a demonstration west of Baghdad, witnesses said - an incident sure to inflame anger and fuel anti-American sentiment.

U.S. military officials said the soldiers opened fire on a crowd of Iraqi demonstrators late on Monday in Falluja, 30 miles (50 km) outside Baghdad, but witnesses told Reuters the protesters were unarmed.

Two more senior members of Saddam Hussein's old guard were in American hands on Tuesday and the United States signaled a major shift in policy by confirming it would pull virtually all of its thousands of troops out of Saudi Arabia.

U.S. forces said they were holding Saddam's veteran oil minister, Amir Muhammed Rasheed, whose wife is bioweapons scientist Rihab Taha, known as "Dr. Germ." The Iraqi National Congress political party said another wanted official, Basra city governor Walid Hamid Tawfiq al-Tikriti - a member of Saddam's inner circle - gave himself up and was being questioned by American officials in Baghdad.

"He is somebody we believe should be investigated for possible involvement in crimes against humanity," INC spokesman Zaab Sethna told Reuters. Leaders of Iraq's key political parties will hold their first meeting in Baghdad on Thursday to discuss a call for a national conference by late May to appoint an interim government in the country. In Mosul, rival religious and ethnic groups said they had reached a breakthrough deal, supported by the U.S. military, to set up a new government in the northern Iraqi city.

"They were united in opposition to Saddam. And now Saddam is no longer here, they still have a sense of common purpose to make the most of this opportunity," said Maj. Gen. David Petraeus, commander of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division, who led negotiations.

In Falluja, hospital director Ahmed Ghanim al-Ali said 13 people had been killed and at least 75 wounded in Monday's shooting.

www.crescat.com

News | Business | Features | Editorial | Security
Politics | World | Letters | Sports | Obituaries |

Produced by Lake House
Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
Comments and suggestions to :Web Manager