Iraqi Violence Flares, Even After Saddam
Tue December 16, 2003 06:46 AM ET
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By Nadim Ladki
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Fresh violence Tuesday showed Saddam Hussein's capture offered no quick solution to Iraq's woes, but U.S. leaders hoped it would help win global allies for their plan to speed up Iraqi self-government.
U.S. forces were keeping the ousted 66-year-old dictator at a secret location for interrogation ahead of a trial in the months ahead. He could face the death penalty.
American and Iraqi envoys took to the road to win U.N. backing for plans to form an Iraqi government by June and to persuade Europeans to write off the oil-rich country's debts.
In Saddam's home town Tikrit, one of several Sunni Muslim cities where his supporters have vented rage at his humiliating capture in a dirt hole Saturday, a roadside bomb wounded three U.S. soldiers Tuesday.
The U.S. military said troops killed 11 Saddam loyalists who tried to ambush them in Samarra, north of Baghdad, Monday,
The cities of Falluja and nearby Ramadi also saw pro-Saddam riots overnight. U.S. troops said they came under fire in a spate of attacks and killed five Iraqis. Witnesses said hundreds of people stormed the U.S.-appointed mayor's office in Falluja.
The attacks came in the heartland of Saddam support north and west of Baghdad, home to the Sunni minority that has long dominated Iraq. Most Iraqis, however, celebrated the demise of the man who ruled them with an iron fist for three decades.
President Bush, whose ratings leapt in opinion polls after Saddam's arrest in a boost for his re-election bid next year, said Monday "terrorists in Iraq remain dangerous" and told his arch foe: "Good riddance. The world is a better place without you."
Intelligence from Saddam and documents in his briefcase have led to the capture of two wanted men, the U.S. military said. Only 14 of 55 Iraqis wanted by the United States military are now unaccounted for. The others were killed or captured.
Izzat Ibrahim, one of Saddam's fiercest enforcers and king of clubs to the ex-president's ace of spades on the U.S. list, is now the most wanted. He has a $10 million bounty on his head.
"FAIR TRIAL"
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