US captures more Iraqis as saboteurs hit oil supplies

4.00pom - By NADIM LADKI


BAGHDAD - US troops intensified a crackdown on anti-American guerrillas across volatile central Iraq on Sunday as saboteurs attacked fuel tanks and a pipeline, exacerbating an already acute petrol shortage.

Saboteurs, who have wreaked havoc on US efforts to restore the country's devastated infrastructure after Saddam Hussein's fall, set the fuel storage tanks ablaze in Baghdad and ruptured the pipeline feeding oil products to refineries in the capital.

US forces have stepped up the hunt for guerrillas in the past week, buoyed by last weekend's capture of the ousted dictator near his hometown of Tikrit.

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Richard Myers told US television his capture had led to the arrest of "several hundred" Iraqis, including some insurgency leaders.

"Some of the information gleaned when we picked up Saddam Hussein led to a better understanding of the structure of the resistance and the former regime elements," he told "Fox News Sunday."

On the interrogation of Saddam, he said: "The only word I have is that he is not being co-operative."

One US soldier is known to have been killed by hostile fire since the announcement of Saddam's arrest. Saddam loyalists and Islamist fighters have killed 200 US soldiers since the US announced an end to major combat on May 1.

Western security sources warn the threat of attacks has not diminished. Intelligence indicates more attacks are planned against US and Western targets over the Christmas period.

An explosion ignited fuel tanks in the Ur district of Baghdad in a pre-dawn attack, witnesses said. No casualties were reported but hundreds of thousands of litres of fuel were burned.

An Iraqi Oil Ministry official said on Sunday a pipeline carrying oil products to a refinery in Baghdad was attacked on Friday in al-Mashahdah, some 32km north of Baghdad.

The sabotage of oil products facilities comes at the height of a petrol shortage crisis in the oil-rich country. Damaged pipelines and rundown refineries alongside smuggling have left authorities struggling to satisfy local fuel demands and Iraqis waiting in queues for hours to fill up their cars with petrol.

A lack of basic services has fuelled anti-American feeling among some Iraqis despite the joy most felt after the December 13 capture of Saddam.

However, applauding the US troops' work, Time magazine named "the American Soldier" Person of the Year on Sunday.

"The very messy aftermath of the war has made it clear that Washington's policy was going to have to be carried out day by day by the soldiers on the ground," Managing Editor Jim Kelly said.

Myers told CBS "Face the Nation" about 100,000 US troops would have to remain in Iraq through the end of next year.

Witnesses said on Sunday US troops were conducting a second day of house-to-house searches in the town of Rawah, close to the Syrian border. Military vehicles and tanks took position at the entrance of the city, with barbed-wire barricades blocking the main road.

A US officer told reporters 30 people were detained in the operation and weapons, including assault rifle, mines and rocket-propelled grenades were seized.

"Those individuals that we have detained have professed to be Mujahideen (Arab fighters), individuals that have been responsible for supplying money and weapons for not only foreign fighters, but anybody that is trying to attack Iraqis and coalition forces," the officer said.

In Mosul, a suspect was held for Baath Party activities, including planning possible attacks and "possible war crimes to include torture and murder," the military said.

Soldiers also arrested 96 people in al-Anbar province, which includes the restive towns of Falluja and Ramadi, during raids.

In Samarra to the east, the US military said on Saturday night 111 people were arrested within 48 hours as part of operations to flush out guerrillas. It said 15 of those were targeted as prominent figures in anti-US activities.

Iraqi Governing Council head Abdul Aziz al-Hakim said Syria offered help to improve security by providing intelligence, tightening borders and extraditing suspects.

Washington has accused Syria of not doing enough to prevent militants slipping into Iraq across the border between them.

- REUTERS


Herald Feature: Iraq