Posted 4/27/2003 12:00 PM Updated 4/27/2003 9:21 PM
Baghdad's self-proclaimed 'mayor' arrested by U.S. forces
By Bill Nichols, USA TODAY
U.S. officials overseeing the reconstruction of Iraq tried to soften resentment about a lack of basic services Sunday on the eve of an important gathering in Baghdad of several hundred potential Iraqi postwar leaders.
Mohammed Mohsen al-Zubaidi is a former opposition figure who proclaimed himself Mayor of Baghdad.
By Ali Haider, AP
In the latest signal of mounting U.S. concern about restoring order to the Iraqi capital, U.S. forces arrested a former Iraqi exile who had proclaimed himself the city's mayor without U.S. permission.
Mohammed Mohsen al-Zubaidi was arrested for "exercising authority which was not his," said Capt. David Connolly, a U.S. spokesman. U.S. officials said al-Zubaidi had told some municipal workers not to return to their jobs unless he approved it.
Al-Zubaidi has ties to the Iraqi National Congress, a U.S.-backed, anti-Saddam Hussein organization. Ahmad Chalabi, the group's leader, said al-Zubaidi was warned to stop his actions.
The confusion about al-Zubaidi's role reflects a larger sense of frustration for many Iraqis about the pace of reconstruction, which has left the country without a central government and lacking staples such as electricity, sewers, clean water and law enforcement.
"I would have thought they (U.S. officials) should have moved faster," Jordan's King Abdullah said in an interview with CNN.
Administration officials see Monday's meeting as a key to demonstrating that U.S. officials, despite a slow start, are making progress in establishing an Iraqi-run government. Jay Garner, the retired U.S. general heading the postwar effort, will chair the session. U.S. officials hope it will have a more representative turnout from Iraq's Shiite Muslim majority than a conclave held April 15 near Nasiriyah that was boycotted by key Shiite groups. Garner has said he hopes to have more Iraqi ministries open sometime this week.
"The Nasiriyah meeting was a very, very first step. ... I think we're going to see more of an indigenous representation," Barbara Bodine, U.S. coordinator for central Iraq, told reporters in Baghdad.
The Iran-based Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, which boycotted the earlier meeting, said it was likely to attend today's session. But other groups, including the Iran-based Dawa Party, said they would not attend.
U.S. forces also continue to face pockets of violence. Four U.S. soldiers were wounded Sunday when an attacker fired on them in Baghdad, U.S. officials said. On Saturday, one soldier was killed and another injured when two Bradley Fighting Vehicles rolled over in Tikrit.
Also Saturday, furious Baghdad residents blamed U.S. troops for an explosion at an arms dump that killed at least 12 and sparked anti-U.S. protests. U.S. officials say unknown attackers ignited the blaze.
As U.S. efforts to restore order intensified, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld began a weeklong tour of the region — his first since the war began last month — with a visit to the United Arab Emirates. Rumsfeld was joined in Abu Dhabi by U.S. war commander Gen. Tommy Franks and later returned to Qatar with Franks.
Rumsfeld is expected to visit Iraq and Afghanistan this week, but Pentagon officials declined to discuss details of his schedule.
Meanwhile, U.S. forces continued their hunt for leaders of the deposed regime. They announced that Lt. Gen. Hossam Mohammed Amin, the chief liaison with United Nations weapons inspectors, turned himself in. Amin, No. 49 on the U.S. list of the 55 most-wanted Iraqis, is the 13th man on the list to be held in U.S. custody.
Amin is said to have extensive knowledge of Iraqi programs for weapons of mass destruction. U.S. forces have yet to find any evidence of Iraqi nuclear, biological or chemical weapons, though U.S. officials said preliminary tests indicated that one of about a dozen barrels found in northern Iraq had a mixture of nerve and blistering agents. Similar earlier positive tests have turned out to be false.
Contributing: Wire reports
URL:http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2003-04-27-iraq-exile-arrest_x.htm |
