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| Iraq |
| Wife, Daughter of Saddam Deputy Al-Douri Arrested |
| 2003-11-26 |
| EFL U.S. troops arrested the wife and daughter of a top Saddam Hussein deputy suspected of masterminding attacks on U.S. troops, and a major pipeline linking northern Iraqi oilfields to the country’s biggest refinery was ablaze Wednesday. snagging the family may bring the bastard to heel? Hours after large explosions shook the center of Baghdad near U.S. headquarters, the visiting British foreign secretary said Iraq will be a safer place once the U.S.- and British-led coalition hands over power to an Iraqi government. Troops of the U.S. 4th Infantry Division in Samarra, 70 miles north of Baghdad, arrested the wife and daughter of Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, a top Saddam associate, division spokesman Lt. Col. William MacDonald said Wednesday. He’s the one suspected of masterminding much of the attacks...wonder if the reward brought this news in? Under Saddam, al-Douri was vice chairman of the ruling Revolutionary Command Council, and shortly before the war began March 20, Saddam placed him in charge of defenses in northern Iraq. U.S. officials have said they believe al-Douri has planned some of the attacks against U.S. forces, and last week offered a $10 million reward for information leading to his capture. Al-Douri is No. 6 on the list of 55 most-wanted Iraqis. MacDonald said a man he identified as the son of a physician was also taken into custody in the raid Tuesday. Witnesses near the village of Sharqat, 170 miles north of Baghdad, said sheets of flame and thick black smoke were shooting from the damaged pipeline, only 30 miles from Iraq’s largest oil refinery. There was no immediate explanation for the cause of the blaze, but guerrillas have repeatedly attacked pipelines in the general area. The attacks have complicated efforts to revive Iraq’s giant petroleum industry, the key to its economic recovery. no explanation? Iraq has the second-largest proven petroleum reserves in OPEC. But many companies are holding back until they see an improvement in security against attacks by militants opposed to American troops and the U.S.-backed Iraqi Governing Council. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, on a two-day visit to Iraq, said a political transition to Iraqi rule will improve the security situation. More than five dozen U.S. troops have been killed by hostile fire in November, more than any other month since the official end of major combat in Iraq on May 1. "I’m absolutely sure that a more rapid political process will assist the security situation," Straw said at a news conference. "The more that we can give all Iraqis a stake in their future and a stable political architecture in which to work, the more I believe more Iraqis will become committed to that future and fewer will think that terror and quiescence in terror is the way forward." Straw said he met with members of the coalition-appointed Iraqi Governing Council to discuss the political process, in which the council is to hand over power to a new, transitional government by June 30. "Iraq is a better place and will become a far better place as a result of that transition," he said. "Life for a very large number of people in Iraq is considerably better ... and will be infinitely better when we can get on top of the security situation." Three large explosions shook downtown Baghdad on Tuesday evening, triggering a warning siren in the "Green Zone" housing the U.S. headquarters. Capt. David Gercken, a spokesman for the U.S. 1st Armored Division, said rockets hit a bus station, a propane station and an apartment building, wounding two Iraqis, near — but not in — the "Green Zone." |
| Posted by:Frank G |