Iraq: First day after regime collapse, operation against an American military center
Iraq-USA, Politics, 4/11/2003

Disorder overwhelmed Iraq from its north to the south. Organized stealing prevailed especially in Baghdad under the sight of the American occupation forces which had fierce fighting with Iraqi resistance and Arab volunteers in various parts of the Iraqi capital resulted in killing or wounding scores of Americans, many of them were killed in an operation that targeted an American military center.

Despite the announcement made by the American forces it had tightened the siege around Baghdad, where bodies of killed people were scattered on roads, the US army generals admitted that their units only control 60% of its area and they are still expecting fierce fighting.

However, the biggest event in north Iraq is that when the USA was obliged -- in response to Turkish pressures -- to interfere to quickly send reinforcement to Karkouk and to force the Kurdish militias to declare their determination to withdraw today from the city just hours after entering it yesterday, without fighting.

Meantime, the US defense secretary talked about the beginning of the entry of his forces, beside the Kurdish fighters into the city of al-Mousel.

With the continued vagueness on the fate of the Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, the leading figure in the Iraqi National Congress, Ahmad al-Jalani, said that Ode Saddam Hussein is in al-Azameyah quarters in Baghdad while Saddam's other son Qusai is in Deyali where he had controlled several houses.

Iraqi looters disturbed matters in Baghdad, Karkouk and al-Basra and other Iraqi cities. They stole from government buildings, houses of Iraqi officials in the regime of Saddam Hussein and even hospitals with most of them with no medical teams or workers. All these were done at the sight of the American forces which preferred not to interfere. Meantime, the chairman of the Kurdistan National Federation, Jalal al-Talibani, yesterday ordered his fighters "al-Bashmarka" to pullout from Karkouk with the fall of today ( Friday), while a senior official at the Kurdistani Democratic Party stressed that his fighters will withdraw from Karkouk also, today.

However, the incursion of the Kurdish forces to Karkouk earlier in the day yesterday raised Turkish fears that Kurds would announce a capital for an independent state and therefore it quickly contacted Washington and announced in order "to know closely about the matter," sending Turkish observers to monitor the withdrawal of the Kurdish forces from it.

Despite that the Turkish foreign minister Abdullah Gul stressed that there is no plan for Ankara to send land forces to the region. He added that American reinforcement are on their way to the city to replace the Kurdish forces.

To this effect, the US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who received a telephone call from Gul during which they discussed this issue, stressed that a small Turkish "liaison military unit" moved to the area as part of the agreement finalized by the Americans recently with the Turkish officials.

Gul said that Powell was the one who proposed this settlement, expressing his hope "to correct this mistake immediately." Both Powell and the leader of the Kurdistani Democratic party stressed that the Kurdish forces will withdraw from Karkouk. The Turkish reaction had an immediate impact on Washington, which stressed through the White House and the Pentagon that Karkouk will be subjected to "American control."

Previous Stories:
  Rumsfeld briefs on the latest development in Iraq   (4/10/2003)
  Iraq: a new educational system   (4/10/2003)
  Jalabi and the provisional government in Iraq   (4/9/2003)

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