Hussein loyalists continue attacks
U.S. soldiers catch insurgency leader; troops may be in Iraq up to 2 more years.

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Associated Press
December 17, 2003
 

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Saddam Hussein loyalists rioted in Baghdad, ambushed a U.S. patrol in Samarra, stormed the office of a U.S.-backed mayor in Fallujah and battled American troops in Ramadi -- making it clear that Hussein's capture has not quelled violence in Iraq.

As guerrilla attacks continued Monday night and Tuesday, the 4th Infantry Division snared a leader of the insurgency and 78 other people in a raid north of Baghdad, not far from where Hussein was captured three days earlier.

A roadside bomb wounded three American soldiers in Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, and a pro-Hussein demonstration in the northern city of Mosul ended in violence, with a policeman killed and a second injured.

President Bush said Hussein deserved the "ultimate penalty" but that it would be up to the people of Iraq to decide whether he should be executed. In an interview with ABC News, the president also said Iraqis are "capable of conducting the trial themselves."

The United Nations, the Vatican and many countries worldwide -- especially in Europe -- oppose putting Hussein on trial before any court that could sentence him to death.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Richard Myers, said in Baghdad on Tuesday that military planners were preparing for American troops to stay in Iraq for up to two more years despite capturing the former Iraqi leader.

The 4th Infantry Division raid in the village of Abu Safa, near Samarra and about 60 miles north of Baghdad, began late Monday after insurgents in Samarra ambushed U.S. forces. The U.S. military said its troops killed 11 of the attackers, who released a flock of pigeons to signal one another that the American patrol was in range. No Americans were hurt.

By early Tuesday, U.S. troops arrested Qais Hattam, the No. 5 fugitive on the 4th Infantry's list of "high value targets," said Capt. Gaven Gregory of the division's 3rd Brigade. The guerrilla leader was described as a major financier of insurgents who have fought the coalition for months.

Hattam is not on the U.S. list of the 55 most wanted Iraqis. Thirteen fugitives from that list remain at large.

Maj. Josslyn Aberle, spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry, said all those captured in the raid were in one room and apparently meeting to plan future attacks.

She told CNN that U.S. forces also seized a large weapons cache.

Myers, in a visit to Iraq to meet with U.S. troops and top U.S. officials, said Pentagon planners were focusing on a U.S. military presence for the next year or two.

"Beyond that, I don't think we can make any guesses," he said, adding that a stable Iraq is the key.

Myers said he expected Hussein's capture to cause the insurgency to dwindle but added that it would take time.

"When you take this leader, who was at one time a very popular leader in this region, and you find him in a hole in the ground, that's a pretty powerful signal that you're on the wrong team," he said.

In one pro-Hussein demonstration, a military statement said, soldiers in Ramadi, 60 miles west of Baghdad, killed three protesters and wounded two others Monday, after as many as 750 people rallied.

The statement said U.S. troops were fired on repeatedly and that one soldier was wounded.