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Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Brian Sullivan who wrote (42007)	5/3/2004 6:59:09 PM
From: Brian Sullivan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793597

But unlike Gen Saleh who is a local man, Maj-Gen Latif is from Baghdad, which may not endear him to the locals. Anti-Saddam general set to command Fallujah forces FALLUJAH - United States Marines besieging Fallujah yesterday brought in a new Iraqi general with a history of standing up to Saddam Hussein to lead a force they have charged with putting down insurgency in the city. Their initial choice, General Jasim Mohamed Saleh - who outraged victims of the Baathist regime because of his past service in Saddam's feared Republican Guard - said he was stepping aside, leaving command of the new Fallujah Brigade to former intelligence officer Mohammed Latif. In Najaf, another flashpoint city, US troops fired on suspected supporters of an anti-American Shi'ite cleric who attacked their base with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. Two Iraqis, including a policeman, were killed and 15 were wounded outside the walls of the US base, local medics said. As US commanders struggle to stamp out open rebellion in two cities and attacks that kill soldiers daily across Iraq, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he expected the UN to approve some form of multinational force for Iraq once Washington hands back sovereignty to Iraqis on June 30. On Monday, a US soldier was killed and two wounded by gunfire south of Baghdad, the US military said. There was fighting on another front for the US army. Six US army officers have received the highest letter of reprimand over the prison scandal in Iraq, clearing the way for proceedings to throw them out of the military. With his appointment, Major-General Latif would, if he passes further vetting, lead the Fallujah Brigade, a senior US military official said. Gen Saleh said he would have no more to do with the unit. Iraq's Shi'ite Muslim majority have accused him of taking part in the Republican Guard's bloody suppression of a Shi'ite uprising in 1991. Unlike his predecessor, Maj-Gen Latif appears to have anti-Saddam credentials, US military and Iraqi officials said. An intelligence officer trained in Britain, he was exiled and may have spent time in prison, a US military source said. He was among a number of generals recalled by the new Iraqi defence ministry to try to re-form the army. But unlike Gen Saleh who is a local man, Maj-Gen Latif is from Baghdad, which may not endear him to the locals. 'I doubt the people of Fallujah will cooperate with the new commander because we know nothing about him,' said local man Abdul Aziz Mohammed. 'He was appointed by the Americans and the (Iraqi) Governing Council... This step was not thought through.' Whatever Maj-Gen Latif's credentials, it remains to be seen whether the Fallujah Brigade can deliver on US demands that it crush some 2,000 rebels and root out perhaps 200 foreign militants. straitstimes.asia1.com.sg