TIKRIT, Aug 16: Two Iraqis on a US “black list” surrendered to US troops hunting for Saddam Hussein, but problems with the export of vital crude oil highlighted Iraq’s instability after the war that ousted its leader.
The US-led administration’s attempts to revive Iraq’s oil industry suffered a blow when a fire and technical problems halted oil in a recently reopened northern export pipeline.
Elements opposed to the US occupation of Iraq have been blamed for a spate of fires and explosions along the pipe, but an Iraqi engineer said it was not yet clear what triggered the latest blaze.
US soldiers hunting the deposed president said two people on a list of 250 wanted Saddam loyalists turned themselves in over the past 36 hours.
“I guess they decided they wanted to come to us rather than us coming to them,” Lt-Col Steve Russell from the 4th Infantry Division told reporters in Tikrit, north of Baghdad.
One man was freed after interrogation, but Russell did not give details. The US has a separate list of 55 most wanted, which includes Saddam and his top aides.
ATTACKS: US forces face a guerilla campaign in Sunni areas where support for Saddam is strong. Attacks have killed 60 US soldiers since Washington declared major combat over on May 1.
A soldier was wounded on Saturday morning when a military convoy came under small arms fire and bomb attack near the town of Baqoba, a US military spokesman said.
There are also signs of surging resentment among Iraq’s Shias, who generally welcomed Saddam’s overthrow in the US-led invasion that began in March.
Witnesses said British troops arrested three or four Iraqis during a raid in Basra — two days after a roadside bomb killed a British soldier and wounded two others in the city.
In a Baghdad suburb tensions simmered three days after a US helicopter tried to bring down a religious flag on a communications tower.
Shia residents of Sadr City have rejected a US apology for provoking Wednesday’s protest and vowed more violence unless US troops withdraw from the district.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said a timetable was needed to soothe Iraqis’ fears about their future.
“There should be a road map that makes it clear to the Iraqis when the occupation will end and... an Iraqi government, internationally recognised, will be formed,” Annan told a news conference in Helsinki.
He said discussion about a greater UN role in Iraq, including possibly organizing a multinational force, were still in the early stages.—Reuters
