War being won, claims US, as 9 more die

Iraqi insurgents have been "brought to their knees" and were only a sporadic threat following the arrest of Saddam Hussein, an American commander claimed on Thursday.

Maj-Gen Raymond Odiero, commander of the 4th Infantry Division, operating north of Baghdad, said the capture of Saddam on December 13 had been "a major operational and psychological defeat for the enemy".

He said the capture had resulted in a significant increase in reliable intelligence leading to the capture of financiers, bomb-makers and former mid-level officials. "I believe within six months you're going to see some normality."

His comments came as a surge of violence by insurgents in the volatile Sunni triangle region around Baghdad killed nine people.

Two American soldiers were among those killed in three separate attacks, the most deadly of which was an ambush on a bus carrying Iraqi women home from work at a military base west of the capital.

Four women were killed and six hurt in the bus attack on Wednesday in Falluja, a hotbed of resistance 50km west of Baghdad. Police said the Iraqi women were Christians who lived in Baghdad and were taken every day by minibus to the base west of the capital, where they worked as cleaners and cooks. Buses carrying the women had been shot at before, they said.

The growing number of civilian deaths is stoking bitter resentment as US troops struggle to improve security before an American plan to hand over power to Iraqis by July 1.

"Look what the Americans do. Look at all these bullet holes. All of this talk about elections and stability is empty," said Musa Ali, staring at the damage inflicted by US troops after they shot dead two civilians in Falluja.

Facing a mounting death toll and spiralling financial costs , Washington wants to hand back sovereignty to an Iraqi government some four months before the US presidential election.

The most powerful Shi'ite Muslim cleric in Iraq is hoping the Bush Administration will allow the country to hold direct elections because otherwise he may be forced to support a revolt that could tear the nation apart, a spokesman for Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani said yesterday.

Sistani met his supporters recently and discussed the ongoing showdown between his demand for elections and America's refusal to grant them.

Earlier this week, Iraq's Shi'ite leadership sent tens of thousands of followers to the streets, calling for direct elections in a stark demonstration of their power.

The US Administration said there is not enough time to organise elections by the end of June.

- AGENCIES

Herald Feature: Iraq