US troops shoot protesters and capture Saddam's aide

8.50am

BAGHDAD - US forces hunting Saddam Hussein said today they had captured one of his closest aides, but American troops trying to impose order in Baghdad inflamed Iraqi anger by firing on protesters, killing two.

To the south of the city centre, a US soldier was shot dead and another wounded in a drive-by shooting, the latest in a series of deadly ambushes that have killed at least 42 US soldiers since Washington declared major combat over on May 1.

A US army spokesman said Saddam's presidential secretary and senior bodyguard, Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti, had been captured on Monday. He was fourth on a US list of 55 most wanted Iraqis and the highest placed to have been seized so far.

He was the Ace of Diamonds in a pack of cards depicting Iraqi fugitives that has been issued to US troops. During Saddam's rule, his presidential secretary was rarely far from his side.

The only fugitives higher on the wanted list are Saddam himself, whose fate remains unknown, and his two notorious sons Uday and Qusay. The presidential secretary worked on security with Qusay, overseeing the roughly 100 members of Saddam's Presidential Secretariat, who were drawn from security agencies, according to Western press reports.

News of the capture came as a senior US general said troops raided two farmhouses near Saddam's home town of Tikrit on Wednesday, capturing as many as 50 of Saddam's Special Republican Guard and security forces.

Major General Ray Odierno told Pentagon reporters in a teleconference from Tikrit that his troops also seized $8.5 million dollars, 300 to 400 million Iraqi dinars, uncounted English pounds and Euros and jewels valued at up to $1 million.

In Baghdad, Iraqi anger at the US-led administration boiled over into bloodshed. At least one American soldier opened fire on sacked Iraqi army officers who massed outside the US administration headquarters demanding jobs and wages.

The US military said it acted in self-defence.

"A military convoy was entering the compound when demonstrators began throwing rocks," an army statement said. "One demonstrator pulled out a weapon and began shooting. US forces responded, killing two of the demonstrators."

It was the first time troops are known to have fired on any of the noisy protests staged in Baghdad in the 10 weeks since US-led forces toppled Saddam. Troops killed 15 Iraqis in clashes with crowds in the city of Falluja in April.

Up to 2,000 former Iraqi soldiers had gathered to protest their dismissal by the new US-led administration.

Elsewhere in the city, attackers in a passing car opened fire on US troops guarding a gas station, killing one and wounding another, a US spokesman said. It was the second deadly ambush in Baghdad in the last two days -- on Tuesday a US soldier died after being shot in the back by a sniper.

The US army blames pro-Saddam guerrillas for the recent wave of attacks, but many Iraqis say US policies have stoked widespread anger. Iraqi soldiers lost their jobs when US administrator Paul Bremer dissolved Saddam's armed forces last month, along with security agencies and two ministries.

Bremer's drive to destroy the legacy of Saddam's Baathist rule has laid off up to 400,000 Iraqis who worked in those now disbanded institutions, with little prospect of reintegration.

Many Iraqis say the sweeping "de-Baathification" policy fails to distinguish between the hard men who enforced Saddam's orders, the many who joined the party out of expediency and some genuine adherents to its Arab nationalist ideology.

They say the policy has created a large pool of armed and resentful unemployed who may turn to crime or to fighting the US-led forces occupying Iraq.

"There is no god but Allah, America is the enemy of Allah!" protesting soldiers chanted after US troops had opened fire. "Down, down USA!"

"We were in a peaceful demonstration asking the US to give us our salaries," said Abdul-Rahim Hassan. "We were not fighting them, but suddenly they started shooting at us."

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq