Iraqi govt puts army on alert: Saddam verdict tomorrow
BAGHDAD, Nov 3: The Iraqi government put the army on alert ahead of Sunday’s verdict in Saddam Hussein’s trial for crimes against humanity, as a spike in violence kept up pressure on President George Bush before US elections.
Baghdad police found 56 bodies and a severed head over 24 hours and the US military reported seven combat deaths.
The seven US deaths on Thursday were an unusually heavy toll for a single day. The body count in the capital was the highest since the end of Ramazan, according to figures provided by an interior ministry source.
The US military said three soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Baghdad on Thursday, and four marines were killed by enemy action in the restive western province of Anbar.
Defence Ministry spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said the army had cancelled all leave and put troops on alert ahead of Sunday when Saddam’s verdict is due. The former president could be sentenced to death if found guilty in the killings of 148 Shia villagers after a 1982 assassination attempt in Dujail.
“This is part of the preparations for Sunday,” Askari said.
The Iraqi government frequently imposes curfews at sensitive times, as well as on Fridays.
Saddam’s defence team has warned of violence if he is convicted and sentenced to hang.
US and Iraqi troops lifted roadblocks around the Shia slum district of Sadr City on Tuesday under orders from Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, flexing his political muscle after a week of public friction with Washington before US elections.
Rising US casualties and spiralling Iraqi bloodshed have put more pressure on Mr Bush before Tuesday’s elections. Polls show public dissatisfaction over Iraq could lose the Republicans both houses of Congress.
US National Intelligence Director John Negroponte met Mr Maliki on a previously unannounced visit to Baghdad on Friday.
A statement from the prime minister’s office said they discussed training and reinforcing Iraqi security forces — a key issue for Washington which wants to hand over responsibility to Iraqi forces so it can start withdrawing its 150,000 troops.
“The meeting discussed the political nature of security deadlocks Iraq faces,” the statement said.
SECURITY MATTERS: Mr Maliki, a Shia who relies on the support of firebrand cleric Moqtada al Sadr for key support in parliament, has struggled to rein in militias accused by Washington and Sunnis of operating death squads.
Mr Maliki’s government has said its priority is tackling guerillas and foreign fighters linked to al Qaeda in Iraq.
Mr Negroponte’s visit follows a period of friction between the United States and Mr Maliki, who was angered last week by perceived US pressure to meet ‘timelines’ for progress.
US officials put some of the problems down to translation difficulties, some to broader misundertandings about mutual goals and some to efforts to promote Mr Maliki’s domestic standing.
The senior US military spokesman in Iraq, Major General William Caldwell, said on Thursday work was already under way to accelerate training and expansion of the Iraqi security forces.
He said 30,000 new recruits had already been signed up to reinforce existing army units and make up for losses, and noted Mr Maliki had announced plans to recruit 19,000 men for new units.
Mr Maliki met his defence minister on Friday and ordered him to crack down on army absenteeism — a problem that has left many army units short-handed amid lax discipline.
The US military admitted last month it had made little headway in stopping the bloodshed in Baghdad despite a major operation in recent months aimed at securing the capital.
News that police found 57 victims of torture and shooting in the past 24 hours pointed to the end of a lull in violence that Gen Caldwell attributed to the end of Ramazan, calls by clerics and politicians for calm and the greater US troop presence.
The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, said instability was driving some 50,000 Iraqis to flee their homes each month.
“We fear hundreds of thousands more Iraqis who have waited to see an improvement in the situation are now teetering on the brink of displacement,” UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said.—Reuters
