Saddam's scientist surrenders to US

9.30am

BAGHDAD - The US military struggled to restore law and order in Baghdad and other Iraqi cities today as Saddam Hussein's scientific adviser became his first close associate to surrender.

A day after the United States listed 55 Iraqi leaders it wanted killed or captured, General Amer Hammoudi al-Saadi turned himself in to US soldiers in the capital and was driven away in the front seat of a military jeep.

He told Germany's ZDF television he had no idea where the deposed president was and insisted Iraq had none of the chemical or biological arms Washington gave as its reason for waging war.

President Bush, in his weekly radio address to the American people, said war was not yet over.

Cautious after earlier unexpected setbacks in a campaign that has largely gone his way, Bush warned that "hard fighting" might lie ahead for troops putting down pockets of resistance.

In central Baghdad, a firefight erupted and US troops said they killed 20 foes. To the north, planes bombed Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, the only major urban center still holding out.

Bush hailed Saddam's fall, but made no mention of chaos that has raged as mobs, suddenly freed from decades of iron control, ransacked offices, shops and even Baghdad's antiquities museum.

A week after the Americans punched their way into the Iraqi capital, troops set up round-the-clock patrols in some quarters to check the lawlessness.

Anarchy also traumatised Mosul and Kirkuk, northern cities seized almost unopposed by Kurdish fighters.

"If the Americans are liberating us, let them restore order because this has been as bad as any two days of my life with Saddam," said Jassem Mohammed, from Kirkuk's Turkmen minority.

Looking ahead, US officials laid plans for a series of meetings of Iraqi opposition leaders from inside and outside the country to pave the way for a transitional government. The first is planned for Tuesday in the southern city of Nassiriya.

Students marched to demand law and order in Baghdad but, in the slum area of Saddam City, US forces stepped back to let locals hunt pro-Saddam fighters on their own.

Bush focused on what Washington sees as the bigger picture -- the successful end of Saddam's three-decade grip on power.

"As people throughout Iraq celebrate the arrival of freedom, America celebrates with them," he said, recalling the moment that symbolized US victory -- a giant statue of the Iraqi president being toppled in the heart of Baghdad.

The US Congress sent Bush a $79 billion package, in part to finance wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and reward key allies.

US commanders focused on wrapping up the 24-day-old war, sending planes to pound Tikrit, 110 miles north of Baghdad, and sending in army reinforcements from Kuwait -- but also said they would cut their naval presence in the Gulf.

The military says its first job is to fight and policing must take a back seat, but it is now moving to restore order and quell anarchy that has even seen hospitals stripped bare.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said soldiers were now guarding a Baghdad water plant and major hospital.

But mobs ransacked the National Museum, grabbing treasures dating back to the dawn of civilisation in Mesopotamia.

"They have looted or destroyed 170,000 items of antiquity. ... They were worth billions of dollars," said deputy director Nabhal Amin, weeping.

In well-to-do quarters, armed vigilantes kicked and punched anyone suspected of plundering goods.

France, which opposed the war, urged the United States and Britain to ensure security for the Iraqi people.

Kurds still in Kirkuk

In the north, Kurdish fighters tried to impose some order in the oil hub of Kirkuk, which they took on Thursday amid scenes of wild jubilation. They checked cars entering and leaving the city in search of suspected looters and their bounty.

But Arabs and Turkmens said the Kurds were guilty of abuses -- a dangerous development in an area of ethnic tension.

"I'm liberated now? What's been liberated? The Kurds came and stole anything they could get their hands on, killed, pulled people out of their cars," said Riyadh Mustafa, an Arab.

Some foreign media reported violent Arab-Kurd clashes in Iraq's third city, Mosul, which fell to the Kurds on Friday after an entire Iraqi army corps surrendered. US troops moved into the city on Saturday in large numbers for the first time.

Turkey fears Kurds want Kirkuk as capital of an independent state, which could fan separatism among its own Kurds.

Kurdish fighters say they will hand over control when enough US troops arrive, and withdraw.

Across Iraq in the west, US-led forces said they had worn down Iraqi resistance around Qaim, a town which Washington suspects could house weapons of mass destruction.

A BBC correspondent said Kut, a town south of Baghdad that Saddam had praised for brave resistance, was now in US hands.

In the second city of Basra, British troops said they hoped to start patrolling with local police officers within 48 hours.

The United Nations' top humanitarian official on Iraq said 13 international staff would return to parts of northern Iraq on Monday and the UN presence in southern Iraq would be expanded.

Meeting in Washington, the Group of Seven industrial nations -- which unites America with staunchly anti-war France and Germany -- called for multilateral involvement in rebuilding Iraq.

It backed a fresh UN resolution on the effort, but US Treasury Secretary John Snow said this did not mark a compromise by the United States over the contentious issue.

Syrian Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara said on Saturday US accusations that Damascus had helped Saddam's government were baseless. Senior Bush administration officials have accused Syria of providing military assistance to Baghdad.

Syria, for its part, has warned that the conflict could spread beyond Iraq's borders, sowing chaos in the region.

Saddam's whereabouts remained a mystery as the US military announced a reward program covering information about Saddam himself, his associates and weapons of all kinds.

Some theories suggest Saddam might be hiding in Tikrit, where loyal fighters are suspected of preparing a last stand.

Others suggest he died in a bombing raid on Baghdad on Monday -- although local residents said they saw his younger son Qusay alive after the attack.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq war