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| Tuesday, 29 July 2003 |
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US General: Iraq a magnet for foreign terrorists BAGHDAD, Monday (Reuters) The commander of U.S. ground forces in Iraq says the country is becoming a magnet for foreign terrorists targeting Americans as Washington reported a big rise in information in its hunt for Saddam Hussein. Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, whose troops usually blame the attacks on die-hard Saddam loyalists, said the sophistication of the raids had increased over the last 30 days. "This is what I would call a terrorist magnet where America, being present here in Iraq, creates a target of opportunity if you will," Sanchez told CNN. Sanchez did not elaborate on the nationalities, but said there was no evidence any country was sponsoring the fighters. "The key that we must not lose sight of is that we must win this battle here in Iraq. Otherwise America will find itself taking on these terrorists at home," Sanchez said. "We have to understand that we have a multiple-faceted conflict going on here in Iraq. We've got terrorist activity, we've got former regime leadership, we have criminals, and we have some hired assassins that are attacking our soldiers on a daily basis." While Washington points the finger mainly at Saddam loyalists, Iraqis say there is widespread discontent at what they see as a failure by U.S.-led forces to get water, electricity and other services back to normal after the war. Guerrilla-style attacks on U.S. forces have killed 49 soldiers in Iraq since U.S. President George W. Bush declared major combat over on May 1. General Richard Myers, chairman of U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, said he was sure Saddam would be found after a tip-off from an Iraqi enabled U.S. troops to kill his sons Uday and Qusay in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul last Tuesday. "There's been a big (rise) in the numbers (of informers) coming forward, providing evidence of weapons caches and of where people are," Myers told reporters in Baghdad after flying by helicopter from a visit to Saddam's home town Tikrit. Troops from a special unit hunting Saddam burst into a house in the smart Baghdad neighbourhood of Mansur on Sunday, but there was no sign of him. |
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