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The fall of the Iraqi government marked not only the end of a regime, but the beginning of anarchy. Looting began almost immediately. On Thursday, residents stormed through Baghdad's streets, looting and burning several government buildings. Mobs also cleaned out the German Embassy and the French Cultural Center. Rachel Bronson, director of Middle East Studies at the non-governmental Council on Foreign Relations, says such spasms of lawlessness are to be expected when a government is deposed. "This really was expected. This happens time and time again when there's outside intervention, that a power vacuum immediately emerges when a government falls, and people are thrilled to have the leadership gone," he said. The challenge for the outside force is really how to establish law and order." But how and when to do so, say analysts, is a delicate question. Come down too hard, too fast, they say, and the liberators look like a heavy-handed occupation force. Robert Coon, a retired U.S. Army colonel now teaching at the Army War College, says that a certain amount of venting by the populace is, after years of repression, even therapeutic. "If we tried to do that too soon, we could find ourselves, I think, in a precarious situation, because we almost have to let them vent a little," he said. "It's good for them, and it's good for us, and it's good for the rest of the region over there to see this bubbling of the local people that's going on at the present time in defiance of the regime. That's good. Again, we have to stop it short of anarchy." Colonel Coon says the work of the coalition forces is now greatly complicated by the number of tasks demanded of them. He points out that troops will be continuing to fight conventional forces around Baghdad, and in the north, battling unconventional or irregular forces, doing peacekeeping in the streets, and rendering humanitarian assistance. "Now, that's hard. It's hard to orchestrate one and do it perfectly," he said. "But when you try to intertwine all four, and keep the rules straight, it gets very, very, difficult." Former British intelligence officer Ellie Goldsworthy, now head of U.K. Armed Forces Program at the Royal United Services Institute in London, says establishing long-term security will necessitate using members of the ousted regime. "Well, the first priority has got to be identifying people in the Iraqi, I was about to say regime there, within Iraq who are able to help with this. And I think that will be a mixture of - I know this is contentious - but Iraqi police, Iraqi tribal leaders, and even Iraqi Baath Party, who were in a position of administration before," he said. The United States is planning to establish an interim authority to take power in Iraq until power can be turned over to an Iraqi administration. Estimates from various U-S defense officials are that anywhere from 100-thousand to several hundred-thousand troops will be needed to remain in Iraq for several years to stabilize the country.
. End of article 1.
While the world watched Iraqis celebrating the fall of Saddam Hussein in the streets of Baghdad, the reaction in much of the Arab world was one of shock and, in some respects, disappointment.
"People were not really prepared, because they were far from the battle scene, so they were believing what they were seeing, resistance and Americans not really going to win this war," he said. "So, there was this notion that maybe it should have lasted more. You know, the honor of the Arab nation. So, there is this feeling that we did not really put up a good fight. You have to remember that not that many Arab capitals have fallen to a foreign army." Iraq's information minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, up until the day before Baghdad fell, was insistently guaranteeing Iraqi victory and assuring reporters American claims of success were lies. His words found accepting ears among many people in the Arab world who wanted to support their Arab neighbor. For some, Saddam Hussein represented Arab national resistance to foreign invaders.
And, according to Uraib al-Rantawi, who heads the al-Quds Center for Political Studies in Jordan, the prospect of democracy emerging in Iraq is something that will galvanize attention among Arab leaders. "Democracy in Iraq as a model, I think, it is a challenge for many of the Arab regimes, because they like to see Iraq exporting oil only, but not oil and democracy," Mr. al-Rantawi said. "Having a democracy in Iraq will affect their conservative state and societies in the neighborhood of Iraq, and I think this is the main challenge now facing the Arab countries; how to build democracy in the Arab countries." Mr. al-Rantawi says the war in Iraq has shown the Arab world that dictatorships, as he said, almost always end in defeat. "The
most important lesson from this war, I think, is that democracy is the
solution," added Mr. al-Rantawi. "A dictatorship cannot mobilize the public
opinion, cannot win a war, cannot even defend themselves. Therefore, the images
about the fall of the statue of Saddam Hussein, I think, will remind many of
the Arab regimes, who built many statues in their own capitals, that there may
be a time when their own statues are [falling as] happened in
Iraq."
But while Mr. Yousef acknowledges there is deep concern among many Arab states regarding the developments in Iraq, he says the Arab world welcomes democracy. "Democracy is not a threat. Democracy is something that we all aim for," he said. "The issue is that there are ways and means to bring about democracy, and we thought that this is the worst way to bring about democracy, by destroying a country. "Democracy is a process," continued Hisham Yousef. "Even democracy in the United States was not achieved in a day and a night. Democracy takes time. It takes institutions to be built. It takes awareness. It takes development. It has to grow. And there are many Arab countries that are moving in this direction." Mr. Yousef acknowledges the movement toward democracy in the region has been slow. But some analysts say that, while the United States and others say they want democracy, they may not be prepared for what happens, if and when there is a democratic vote in Arab countries. Hassan Nafae is the head of the political science department at Cairo University. With anti-American and fundamentalist sentiment so high throughout the region, he says any democratic states that emerge in the Arab world could turn out to be quite antagonistic toward the United States. "The United States must understand, and I do believe it does understand, that if you have free elections in most of the Arab world, you will have very anti-American regimes, more anti-American than the current regimes," said Mr. Nafae. But while Mr. Nafae acknowledges the anti-American sentiment in many Arab countries, he also says, if America makes good on its promise to return the Iraqi government to the Iraqi people, new seeds of friendship and trust may be planted.
. End of article 2.
The suicide attack took place at a U.S. Marine checkpoint near the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad. Reporters embedded with U.S. troops said an Iraqi man approached the checkpoint and blew himself up. Earlier, U.S. troops engaged in a fierce firefight with Saddam loyalists near a mosque in northwest Baghdad. Air
Force Major General Gene Renuart told reporters at Central Command headquarters
in Qatar that U.S. troops have now cordoned off Baghdad, preventing pro-Saddam
fighters from leaving or entering the city.
Correspondent Alisha Ryu has gotten a first-hand look at the situation in central Baghdad. She toured the city with two of the top commanders of U.S. ground forces in Iraq. "And I can tell you that the fighting is not entirely over. There are areas that are still very, very unsafe, if not very explosive," she said. "But there were explosions and we heard numerous gunshots." Alisha Ryu also says that the few civilians she saw on her tour gave U.S. troops a warm reception. "They were friendly. They were giving us thumbs-up signs," she said. "They were holding up white flags and bringing out children and they were meeting the convoy in a very, very friendly manner. So I think the generals were glad to see that kind of reception." In
northern Iraq, Kurdish fighters, backed by U.S. Special Forces, entered the
strategic city of Kirkuk. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer says U.S. troops
will soon take charge of the city amid Turkish concerns that ethnic Kurds might
try to expand their control in northern Iraq.
"But I think we are prepared to be very, very wary of what they may have and prepared for a big fight," he said. In another sign of change in Iraq, President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair broadcast a television message directly to the Iraqi people, telling them that they will soon be free. Mr.
Bush repeated his pledge that coalition forces will not stop until the entire
Saddam regime is gone.
British
Prime Minister Blair sought to reassure Iraqis that outside powers will not
control the country's destiny.
U.N. officials, meanwhile, are pushing for more humanitarian shipments to help Iraqi civilians. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed concern in a brief exchange with reporters in New York: "It appears there is no functioning government Iraq at the moment, and we also saw the scenes of jubilation," he said. "But, of course, when you think of the casualties, both military and civilian, the Iraqis have paid a heavy price." The International Red Cross was able to resume some aid deliveries in Baghdad. But Red Cross officials are calling on coalition forces to restore order in the city so that they can get badly needed medical supplies to hospitals.
. End of article 3.
Major General Stanley McChrystal of the Pentagon's Joint Staff said Iraqi army units in the north are the last significant military formations still on the battlefield. The general told reporters at the Pentagon those Iraqi forces are being attacked from the air and the ground, and are becoming less of a potential threat daily. "We have been targeting them aggressively, both from the air and then with the Special Operations forces for the last days, and we judge their capability to have dropped significantly, both from casualties and from people simply leaving the battlefield," said General McChrystal. But the general says there have been no major surrenders of Iraqi soldiers in the north, even while Iraqi troops continue to give up elsewhere. He says there may be tough fighting ahead, and not only in the north. The danger remaining in Baghdad was pointed up by a suicide bomb attack at a U.S. Marine checkpoint. At least one American soldier was killed and several others wounded. General McChrystal said dealing with such scattered resistance is now a top priority, ahead of dealing with such problems as looting. "Clearly, the focus right now has got to be on getting the deaths squads and the Special Republican Guard elements identified and defeated and out of the city," he said. "Because that is the major threat. Looting is a problem, but it is not a major threat. People are not being killed in looting. So, that's something we have to do as we have the time and capability to do it. Sure, we want the looting to stop." In other developments, U.S. Special Forces and Army troops have entered the key northern oil city of Kirkuk along with Kurdish fighters. But the Pentagon says it has no new information on the whereabouts or fate of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Similarly, officials say they have nothing to report on the apparently unsuccessful hunt thus far for Iraq's chemical and biological weapons.
. End of article 4.
[All times GMT and approximate] Thursday, 10 April 2220: US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says small numbers of US troops and Kurdish forces are moving into Iraq's third city of Mosul after signs of Iraqi surrenders in the area. 2125: A senior Pentagon official says Kurdish forces went into Kirkuk against a specific US request not to. 1827: The top official of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Barham Saleh, tells the BBC that the two main Iraqi Kurdish parties have agreed to withdraw their forces from Kirkuk, starting on Friday. 1740: The Pentagon says aid deliveries to Iraq have dramatically improved. 1656: There are reports that several ministries have been set on fire in central Baghdad amid widespread looting. 1630: The US strongly condemns the murder of a leading Shia Muslim cleric in Najaf. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer says the government is committed to maintaining security on the ground. 1540: At least four US marines are injured in an apparent suicide bombing attack near a military checkpoint in Baghdad. 1452: Iraqi Shia Muslim leader Abdul Majid al-Khoei and another cleric are murdered in the central Iraqi town of Najaf. Mr al-Khoei - who returned to Iraq from exile earlier this week - was stabbed to death inside the Imam Ali mosque. 1412: President George W Bush's spokesman Ari Fleischer reassures Turkey by saying that US forces "will be in control of Kirkuk". 1400: UN Secretary General says Kofi Annan says Iraqis have paid a heavy price for the fall of Saddam Hussein's government. Mr Annan says the main priority now is the restoration of law and order in the country. 1353: A Baghdad hospital is ransacked and other hospitals in the Iraqi capital are closed because of the street violence and looting, Red Cross spokeswoman Nada Doumani says. 1352: Syria calls for an "end of the occupation" of Iraq "so that the people of Iraq can choose their government freely" in a statement released by the Syrian Foreign Ministry. 1305: A crowd in Kirkuk topples a statue of Saddam Hussein. 1300: UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush address Iraqi people directly on a new TV station called "Towards Freedom", pledging that power in the country will be turned to the Iraqi people. 1240: Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul says Turkish military observers will be send to Kirkuk soon to monitor the withdrawal of Kurdish forces from the northern Iraqi town. 1213: Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul says he has been told by US Secretary of State Colin Powell that fresh US forces will be in the northern Iraqi town of Kirkuk within a few hours. 1050: UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush to address Iraqi people directly on Thursday on new TV station called "Towards Freedom," Mr Blair's office says. In pre-recorded statements both leaders promise new era of freedom for Iraqis. 1030: Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul says Ankara is watching events in northern Iraq closely and "whatever is necessary will be done". 1005: US military says fighting around mosque in north-western Baghdad has ended. 0915: Kurds seen looting buildings in Kirkuk, making off with trucks piled high with fridges and other goods. 0832: BBC correspondent in outskirts of Kirkuk reports chaotic celebrations in street as Kurdish fighters (peshmergas) and US special forces enter the northern oil city. The fighters say they control city centre, but pockets of Iraqi resistance remain. 0755: French President Jacques Chirac voices "satisfaction" at downfall of Saddam Hussein and hopes for quick end to fighting. 0735: US B-52 bombers pound Iraqi division dug in near Kirkuk in north. 0700: Marines search mosque after sustained heavy fire from large group of Iraqi defenders - one marine killed, at least 13 wounded, US military says. 0530: Heavy fighting breaks out close to one of Saddam Hussein's palaces. A convoy of US marines is under heavy fire from a large group of Iraqis. They take up defensive positions around a mosque amid rumours that the Iraqi leader might be inside. 0330: A series of loud blasts are reported in Baghdad, apparently coming from the city's outskirts. The cause was uncertain, AFP reported. 0150: US military is moving more giant Moab bombs to the Gulf region, AFP reports. 0110: Latest Pentagon figures show 101 US soldiers killed and 399 wounded in Iraq, with seven being held as POWs. Reporters with the US and British military are restricted in what they can say about precise locations or military plans. Click here for more details   . End of article 5.
Top Pentagon officials say they are very concerned about the latest suicide bombing in Iraq that killed at least one coalition soldier and wounded several others. The
suicide bombing occurred at a U.S.Marine checkpoint in Baghdad, where scattered
armed resistance to American forces continues.
Major General Stanley McChrystal of the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs of Staff says the attack reinforces the dangers that remain in Baghdad. "I think we are very concerned about it, because force protection is a complex task, because as you try to allow life to get back to normal, maintaining protection of your forces is increasingly difficult," he said. "As we transition from high intensity combat, this certainly reinforces the danger that will remain." General McChrystal says coalition forces will take the same steps to protect themselves that they would in any other "high threat environment." He says the goals are to protect the Iraqi population and allow them at least a partial return to normalcy, while also protecting coalition troops.
. End of article 6.
A prominent Iraqi Shiite cleric just back from exile, Abdul Majid al-Khoei, has been assassinated in the southern Iraqi city of Najaf. A representative of the family-based al-Khoei foundation in London told VOA that a mob stabbed the cleric to death at Najaf's Imam Ali Mosque along with the mosque's government-appointed administrator, Haidar Keliddar. Details of the attack are still being confirmed. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer strongly condemned the assassination and expressed the administration's condolences. Mr. Fleischer said the murder of Abdul Majid al-Khoei demonstrates that the situation in Iraq is still very dangerous. Thirty-eight-year old Abdul Majid al-Khoei was the son of the late Grand Ayatollah Abu al-Qassim al-Khoei, the revered Shiite spiritual leader who died a decade ago while under Iraqi house arrest. The son's return to Iraq last week from exile in London was backed by the United States.
. End of article 7.
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US troops are setting up an operations centre at the Palestine Hotel, in the city centre, and are calling on professional people to come forward to help run public services. But BBC correspondents in the city say the presence of US troops does little to deter the armed mobs, and in any case the military are too thinly spread, concentrating on guarding government buildings and checking sites for weapons caches. The BBC's Rageh Omaar says the entire capital is prey to gangs of armed looters, who have raided government buildings, shops, private homes and even hospitals.
Government and commercial buildings have been set ablaze. The AFP news agency says Iraq's largest archaeological museum has been looted - ancient artefacts destroyed and stolen. The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has called on US-led forces to do everything possible to protect hospitals and water supplies from the looters. United Nations aid agencies say the humanitarian situation is worsening and the disorder in Iraq means it is simply not safe for them to send their workers in to help the civilian population. Tables turned The BBC's David Willis in Baghdad says a small minority of the population is carrying out the looting and most residents are hunkered down behind locked doors in fear. However, he says that the spirit pervading the streets is a sense that "the Iraqi regime had stolen from the people for years and now they are taking it back".
As one looter said: "This used to belong to Saddam Hussein, now it belongs to me". The BBC's Paul Wood, also in Baghdad, says that the looting has overwhelmed the city, with much of what is stolen of little or no use to those who take it. From the hospitals vital equipment such as heart monitors and incubators have been stolen and even the laboratories ransacked - centrifuges and microscopes smashed. Heroic stand As our correspondent viewed the destruction, a gang of more looters arrived, carrying off an assortment of shiny metal instruments and bottles of chemicals. "They don't even know what it's used for," said the doctor of veterinary medicine who accompanied him.
In this instance the doctor followed the looters to their truck and chastised them, shaming them into returning the equipment - one brave man against a mob - but our correspondent says this is not usually the case. General Jay Garner, the former American general now in charge of overseeing the creation of a new government in Iraq, says his first priority will be to set up a new police force. Under new rules of conduct issued on Friday by General Tommy Franks, American troops have been forbidden from using deadly force to prevent looting. In the meantime some Baghdad citizens are taking the law into their own hands - at one hospital which was plundered the BBC's Andrew North said he saw one boy, allegedly a looter, beaten to death in front of him by residents. . End of article 1.
Television pictures showed people picking up banknotes from the street, and beds, furniture and even a roof-top air-conditioning unit being stripped from buildings and carried away. A central market was set on fire and pictures of the ousted Iraqi President, Saddam Hussein, were defaced. Kurdish fighters set up roadblocks, while columns of Iraqi soldiers were seen flooding out of the city. The US military says the entire 5th Corps of the Iraqi army has surrendered. US special forces are also said to have entered Mosul. In Baghdad serious disorder is continuing with the BBC's correspondent in the city, Rageh Omaar, saying the Iraqi capital is prey to gangs of armed looters who have raided government buildings, shops, private homes and even hospitals. The presence of American troops on the streets is doing nothing to deter the armed mobs, and many residents have resorted to barricading themselves in their homes for protection.
The developments in Mosul come a day after Kurdish fighters swept in unopposed to the other main city in the area, oil-rich Kirkuk. Turkey, which was deeply concerned about the move, now says Kurdish forces have begun withdrawing from the city. The Turkish Foreign Minister, Abdullah Gul, said the withdrawal had begun on Friday morning and that US forces were now in control of the city. He said Turkish military observers, whom the US have invited into northern Iraq, would be arriving in Kirkuk shortly. But the BBC's Dumeetha Luthra says there is little evidence of change on the ground. Correspondents say American control over Kirkuk and Mosul will open up more avenues from which to attack Tikrit, whose people are bound to Saddam Hussein by tribal ties and are expected to put up fierce resistance. They add that the town can expect continued heavy air attacks for the next four or five days, while American reinforcements make their way to what could be the last battlefield of the war. In other developments:
They are setting up an operations centre at the Palestine Hotel in the centre of the city, and are calling on professional people to come forward to help run public services. Sporadic fighting has continued in Baghdad, with Iraqi militia fighters still resisting US forces in the densely-populated western suburbs of the city.
The Kurdish forces in Kirkuk had promised to hand over control to the Americans shortly, following their unexpected advance into the city on Thursday against strong US advice. The same day saw Washington move quickly to reassure Turkey that the Kurds would not be allowed to control Kirkuk and its oil resources, or to declare an independent state in northern Iraq. Ankara is concerned that this could inspire separatist demands among its own sizeable Kurdish minority. After Kirkuk fell, 20,000 Kurdish fighters streamed into the city, waving guns and firing into the air. The pictures caused consternation in Turkey, and it threatened to send its troops across the border into northern Iraq. Friday saw the Kurds in the city keeping a very low profile, housed in former Iraqi barracks just outside the city. Their commander said the forces would return to the two main Kurdish cities of Sulaymaniyah and Irbil once the Americans had taken over. . End of article 2.
[All times GMT and approximate] Friday, 11 April 1803: Pentagon releases new US casualty figures for Iraq war: 107 troops killed and 399 wounded or otherwise injured. 1801: A US delegation will meet members of the Iraqi opposition on Tuesday in the southern city of Nasiriya to discuss Iraq's future and an interim government, the US State Department announces. 1737: A US delegation is to meet representatives of the Iraqi opposition in the southern Iraqi city of Nasiriya on Tuesday, the US State Department says. 1630: Aid organisation Medecins Sans Frontieres says the two members of its Baghdad team missing since 2 April have made contact after being released from an Iraqi jail where they spent the last nine days. 1625: A Kurdish leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Barham Saleh, says Kurdish guerrillas have now started pulling out from the city of Kirkuk. 1615: Television pictures show government and commercial buildings on fire in Baghdad as unrest is reported to continue. 1520: Mobs in Baghdad have looted Iraq's largest archaeological museum, the French news agency AFP reports. 1410: The Red Cross in Geneva says it is a scandal that the medical system in Baghdad is close to collapse, but after discussions with the US and Britain, says it is hopeful that the situation will soon begin to improve. 1350: A senior official from one of the two main Iraqi Kurdish parties - the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan - tells the BBC that peshmerga forces are expected to start withdrawing from Kirkuk in a few hours' time. 1330: Jay Garner, the retired general picked by the US to oversee the creation of a new Iraqi administration, visits the southern port of Umm Qasr to reassure local people that the US wants to help Iraqis rebuild their own country, not take over. He says his first priority will be to set up a new police force. 1225: Turkey is sending military observers to Kirkuk to monitor the situation, according to the country's Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul. 1202: Kurdish officials say their fighters are beginning to leave Kirkuk as US special forces move in to secure the northern city, but the BBC's Dumeetha Luthra says there is little evidence of change on the ground. 1145: Britain is beginning to scale back its forces in the Gulf, according to Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram. Some personnel have already returned and others will return shortly, he says. 1136: Baghdad's international airport will be opened to humanitarian flights "soon" but risks remain, says US Brigadier-General Vince Brooks. 1113: The US has identified 55 leaders of Saddam Hussein's regime it will "pursue, kill or capture", according to General Brooks. He said some of them were trying to leave Iraq and coalition troops had been given playing-card-like guides to identify the "most wanted" people. 1108: US-led special forces have found and destroyed five light aircraft north of Tikrit which could have been used by regime leaders hoping to flee, General Brooks says. 1020: The entire 5th Corps of the Iraqi army surrenders to coalition forces at the northern city of Mosul, US military officials say. 1015: A spokeswoman for the International Committee of the Red Cross expresses alarm at the looting and public unrest in Baghdad and Basra and calls on coalition forces to reimpose law and order as required of them under the Geneva Conventions. 1003: Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, describes the US-led war as an aggression against Islam though he adds that Iran is happy to see the end of Saddam Hussein's regime. 0950: General Tommy Franks, commander of US forces in Iraq, says the leaders of Saddam Hussein's regime are dead or trying to flee. 0819: Fierce fighting near Qaim on the Syrian border may be Iraqis trying to defend a site containing missiles or even weapons of mass destruction, US military sources tell the BBC's defence correspondent Jonathan Marcus. 0745: Television pictures show people looting cash from a bank in the centre of Mosul. 0736: Iraqi opponents of Saddam Hussein attack the Iraqi embassy in Tehran. 0723: Two Iraqi children have been shot dead by US marines at a checkpoint in Nasiriya; nine other Iraqis were injured when the marines shot at a car which failed to stop, the BBC's Adam Mynott reports. 0645: US appeals to municipal workers in Baghdad to help them restore order to the Iraqi capital. 0443: Iraqi defenders reportedly abandon northern town of Mosul. 0104: US military says its warplanes have dropped six JDAM "smart bombs" on a home west of Baghdad of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's half brother Barzan Ibrahim Hasan al-Tikriti. He used to head Iraq's secret police. Reporters with the US and British military are restricted in what they can say about precise locations or military plans. Click here for more details . End of article 3.
 Our correspondent at US Central Command in Qatar takes stock of coalition strategy and tactics: Baghdad
The statement also says that "the Saddam
regime has ended... we will stay there until there is a free
government".
Officials here believe the US-Kurdish relationship (which also involves UK special forces) is a good one and that control can be exercised, despite the relatively small US presence.
It is not clear how many of Britain's 45,000 deployed military personnel this affects, but is another indication that British forces' combat operations are all but over and are entering a transition phase.
"They will decide among themselves" is the mantra, but an indication, nevertheless, of just how sensitive and complicated matters get when the coalition starts to dip its toes into post-war politics. The west
Officials here say they expect to see large amounts of money being offered as rewards for information on wanted members of the regime or Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. |
They don't even know what it is used
for 
