FULL ARTICLES

TABLE OF CASUALTIES IN IRAQ

Table of casualties in Iraq
July 27, 2003

BAGHDAD, July 26 (Reuters) -

NOTE: The figures in brackets refer to casualties after May 1, when U.S. President George W. Bush declared hostilities over.

U.S. AND BRITISH TROOPS KILLED:

COMBAT/ATTACKS

United States 162 (48)

Britain 14 (6)

NON-COMBAT

United States 79 (57)

Britain 29 (4)

IRAQIS KILLED:

MILITARY 2,320

CIVILIANS Between 6,073 and 7,782+

- U.S. military estimates relating only to fighting in or near Baghdad. No other figures available.

+ - Figure compiled on Web site www.iraqbodycount.net, run by academics and peace activists, based on incidents reported by at least two media sources.

NOTE: NON-COMBAT is defined as accidents, U.S. or British fire killing or wounding their own troops, and other incidents unrelated to fighting.

 

IRAQ-MOST WANTED-GLANCE

Iraq-Most Wanted-Glance
July 23, 2003
By The Associated Press

The 55 most wanted Iraqis and their status, according to U.S. Central Command. Of the total, 34 are reported in U.S. custody:

--No. 1: Saddam Hussein, president.

--No. 2: Qusai Hussein, Saddam's son. Killed July 22.

--No. 3: Odai Hussein, Saddam's son. Killed July 22.

--No. 4: Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti, presidential secretary, Saddam's cousin. Taken into custody June 17.

--No. 5: Ali Hassan al-Majid, presidential adviser, Revolutionary Command Council member. Also known as "Chemical Ali." Possibly killed.

--No. 6: Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, RCC vice chairman, longtime Saddam confidant.

--No. 7: Hani Abd al-Latif Tilfah al-Tikriti, director, Special Security Organization.

--No. 8: Aziz Saleh al-Numan, Baath Party Baghdad region command chairman. Taken into custody May 22.

--No. 9: Muhammad Hamza al-Zubaydi, retired RCC member, a leader of 1991 suppression of Shiite rebellion. Taken into custody April 20.

--No. 10: Kamal Mustafa Abdallah Sultan al-Tikriti, secretary of the Republican Guard, Saddam's son-in-law. Surrendered May 17.

--No. 11: Barzan Abd al-Ghafur Sulayman Majid al-Tikriti, Special Republican Guard commander, Saddam's cousin.

--No. 12: Muzahim Sa'b Hassan al-Tikriti, who headed Iraq's air defenses under Saddam. Taken into custody April 23.

--No. 13 Ibrahim Ahmad Abd al Sattar Muhammad, armed forces chief of staff. Taken into custody May 15.

--No. 14: Sayf al-Din Fulayyih Hasan Taha al-Rawi, Republican Guard chief of staff.

--No. 15: Rafi Abd al-Latif Tilfah al-Tikriti, director of general security.

--No. 16: Tahir Jalil Haboush, chief of Iraqi intelligence service.

--No. 17: Hamid Raja Shalah al-Tikriti, air force commander. Central Command he's in coalition custody. No date was given for his apprehension.

--No. 18: Latif Nusayyif al-Jasim al-Dulaymi, Baath Party military bureau deputy chairman. Taken into custody June 9.

--No. 19: Abdel Tawab Mullah Huweish, deputy prime minister. Taken into custody May 2.

--No. 20: Taha Yassin Ramadan, vice president, RCC member.

--No. 21: Rukan Razuki Abd al-Ghafar Sulayman al-Majid al-Tikriti, head of tribal affairs office.

--No. 22: Jamal Mustafa Abdallah Sultan al-Tikriti, deputy head of tribal affairs, Saddam's son-in-law. Taken into custody April 20.

--No. 23: Mizban Khadr Hadi, RCC member. Taken into custody July 8.

--No. 24: Taha Muhie-eldin Marouf, vice president, RCC member, only Kurd in Saddam's hierarchy. Taken into custody May 2.

--No. 25: Tariq Aziz, deputy prime minister. Taken into custody April 25.

--No. 26: Walid Hamid Tawfiq, governor of Basra. Surrendered April 29.

--No. 27: Gen. Sultan Hashim Ahmad, defense minister.

--No. 28: Hikmat Mizban Ibrahim al-Azzawi, deputy prime minister, finance minister. Taken into custody April 18.

--No. 29: Mahmoud Diab al-Ahmed, interior minister. Taken into custody July 8.

--No. 30: Ayad Futayyih Khalifa, Quds forces chief of staff. Taken into custody June 4.

--No. 31: Gen. Zuhayr Talib Abd al-Sattar al-Naqib, director of military intelligence. Taken into custody April 23.

--No. 32: Lt. Gen. Amir Hamudi Hasan al-Saadi, presidential scientific adviser. Surrendered April 12.

--No. 33: Amir Rashid Muhammad al-Ubaydi, presidential adviser, oil minister. Taken into custody April 28.

--No. 34: Gen. Hussam Mohammed Amin, head of monitoring directorate, chief liaison with U.N. weapons inspectors. Taken into custody April 27.

--No. 35: Muhammad Mahdi al-Salih, trade minister. Taken into custody April 23.

--No. 36: Sabawi Ibrahim Hasan, presidential adviser, Saddam's half brother.

--No. 37: Watban Ibrahim Hasan, presidential adviser, Saddam's half brother. Taken into custody April 13.

--No. 38: Barzan Ibrahim Hasan, presidential adviser, Saddam's half brother. Taken into custody April 16.

--No. 39: Huda Salih Mahdi Ammash, reputedly scientist in biological weapons program, first woman elected to Baath Party's national command council. Taken into custody May 9.

--No. 40: Abdel Baqi Abdel Karim Abdallah al-Sadun, Baath Party regional command chairman.

--No. 41: Mohammed Zimam Abdul Razaq, Baath Party regional command chairman.

--No. 42: Samir Abd al-Aziz al-Najim, Baath Party regional command chairman. Taken into custody April 17.

--No. 43: Humam Abdul-Khaliq Abdul-Ghafoor, minister of higher education and scientific research. Taken into custody April 19.

--No. 44: Yahya Abdellah al-Aboudi, Baath Party regional command chairman.

--No. 45: Nayef Shedakh, Baath Party regional chairman, Najaf governorate, reported by Iraqi television to have been killed in battle for Najaf.

--No. 46: Sayf al-Din al-Mashadani, Baath Party regional command chairman. Taken into custody May 24.

--No. 47: Fadil Mahmud Gharib, Baath Party regional command chairman. Taken into custody May 15.

--No. 48: Muhsin Khadr al-Khafaji, Baath Party regional command chairman.

--No. 49: Rashid Taan Kazim, Baath Party regional chairman.

--No. 50: Ugla Abid Saqr, Baath Party regional chairman. Taken into custody May 20.

--No. 51: Ghazi Hammud, Baath Party regional command chairman. Taken into custody May 7.

--No. 52: Adilabdillah Mahdi al-Duri al-Tikriti, Baath Party regional command chairman. Taken into custody May 15.

--No. 53: Brig. Gen. Husayn al-Awadi, Baath Party Regional command chairman, senior officer in Iraqi military's chemical weapons corps. Taken into custody June 9.

--No. 54: Khamis Sirhan al-Muhammad, Baath Party Regional command chairman, militia commander.

--No. 55: Sad Abd al-Majid al-Faysal, Baath Party Regional command chairman. Taken into custody May 24.

 

IRAQI ISLAMIST GROUP TAPE THREATENS "HOLY WAR"

Iraqi Islamist group tape threatens "holy war"

DUBAI, July 28 (Reuters) - A hitherto unknown group of Iraqi Muslim militants warned in a video tape aired on an Arab television channel on Monday that they would fight a "holy war" against U.S. President George W. Bush and his administration.

"Bush, Rumsfeld and decision makers in the 'Black House' and in the Pentagon...we will shake the ground under your feet and we will send a fire upon you which only God can prevent," a masked man said on a tape aired on the Dubai-based Al Arabiya.

The man called his group the "Salafist Jihad Group."

"America -- you have declared war on God's soldiers...you will have no security or peace of mind as long as you are an infidel and fighting a war against Islam and Muslims," said the man, standing amid a group of similarly masked men holding weapons.

He pledged to avenge the arrest of religious figures and Islamist activists in prisons all over the world including Iraq, the U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, Morocco, Kenya, Egypt, Syria, Pakistan and India.

In recent weeks, many groups -- some saying they are Saddam loyalists and one claiming links to the militant al Qaeda network of Osama bin Laden -- have claimed responsibility for attacks on U.S. occupying forces in Iraq.

U.S. Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz on Sunday accused the Al Arabiya and Al Jazeera channels of biased reporting from Iraq, adding that Washington was talking to unnamed governments to try to get more "balanced" coverage.

At least 49 U.S. soldiers have been killed since Bush declared the end of major combat in Iraq on May 1.

 

BLOODY U.S. RAID IN BAGHDAD LEAVES IRAQIS FURIOUS

Bloody U.S. raid in Baghdad leaves Iraqis furious
By Cynthia Johnston

BAGHDAD, July 28 (Reuters) - Caked pools of blood and a bullet hole in the window of Baghdad's al-Sa'ah restaurant are the only remaining signs of a U.S. raid that killed five Iraqi civilians as they unwittingly drove into a firestorm.

Furious residents of the upscale Mansur district accuse U.S. soldiers of firing indiscriminately at passing cars on Sunday as colleagues raided a villa in a vain search for Saddam Hussein.

"The cars came down the road. They didn't know the Americans were here. They were normal civilians and wanted to go home," one witness told Reuters on Monday as he stood in the courtyard of the Sa'ah restaurant.

"They (U.S. soldiers) opened fire right away."

A U.S. military spokesman said the raid was conducted by Task Force 20, a special team set up to hunt Saddam and his key aides, but gave no other details.

A soldier at a nearby hospital said the bodies of five people had been brought in from the scene of the raid, including a boy in his early teens.

On Monday morning not a soldier was in sight in Mansur, and four burned or bullet-riddled cars had been taken away.

"All these things are making people hate the Americans," said Muhammad, a Mansur resident.

"In the beginning, all the Iraqi people welcomed the Americans, but now the Americans have built a wall between themselves and the Iraqi people."

NO WARNING

Residents who witnessed the shooting said about 75 U.S. soldiers poured into the area in the early evening, blocking off the main street but failing to prevent innocent motorists straying into the fire zone from quiet side streets.

"They need to have barbed wire up so that people know there is an operation," one witness said. "This is a residential area. They need to take care of the civilians. There are kids here."

Another witness, who gave his name as Abbas, said he had turned away cars in a street near the restaurant. But smaller streets remained open. Witnesses said soldiers opened fire from atop a Humvee armoured vehicle at the first car that neared their position. Moments later they raked a second car with gunfire as well.

"It was indiscriminate firing," one witness said as others nodded in agreement and pointed out a bullet hole in the window of the restaurant.

Flying bullets also hit the gas tank of a parked car, setting it and another car ablaze. In minutes, the shooting was over and the soldiers withdrew.

"They just left," one resident said. "Then the Iraqi firemen came to put out the fires."

 

FIVE IRAQIS KILLED AS NET CLOSES ON SADDAM

Five Iraqis killed as net closes on Saddam
From Catherine Philp in Baghdad and Elaine Monaghan in Washington
London Times
July 28, 2003

AMERICAN military commanders in Iraq yesterday predicted the capture of Saddam Hussein "any day now" after a surge in tip-offs from informants hungry for a slice of the $25 million bounty on his head. The boast came after American soldiers narrowly missed catching Saddam's security chief, and possibly the former dictator himself, when they raided three houses near Tikrit, the former dictator's ancestral home, where he was said to be hiding.

Last night US soldiers from Task Force 20, a special unit hunting Saddam, raided a villa in central Baghdad, killing five Iraqis and wounding eight others.

The man appointed as Britain's new envoy to Iraq said that Saddam should be caught alive. Sir Jeremy Greenstock, who leaves his role as United Nations Ambassador to take up the Baghdad posting in September, said that the deaths of Uday and Qusay Hussein, Saddam's sons, in a battle last week was a "genuine success" for the US-led coalition in Iraq.

He told the BBC1 programme Breakfast with Frost: "We have now got to get the father. I would like to see him brought before a court, but that is in the hands of the military team looking for him. I would say it is quite important to do that."

An Iraqi policemen said that all the victims of the attack on the villa in Baghdad had been in cars driving through the area at the time. There was no sign of Saddam at the villa.

Its owner, Rabeeah Amin, a tribal chief, said: "I was told they had been tipped off that Saddam was hiding in my house, that he was my guest, but I know nothing about this."

Earlier, hundreds of troops, backed by Apache helicopters and Bradley fighting vehicles, stormed farmhouses outside Saddam's hometown of Tikrit shortly before dawn after receiving a tip. Iraqis told the military that the security chief they were seeking had been in one of the houses but had left before the raid.

"We missed him by 24 hours," Lieutenant-Colonel Steve Russell, who led the operation, said. Nonetheless, commanders hailed the raid as evidence that troops were closing in on Saddam after the killing of his sons, Uday and Qusay, a week ago.

"They're running out of places to hide, and it's becoming difficult for them to move because we're everywhere," Colonel James C. Hickey, a brigade commander, said. "Any day now we're going to knock on their door, or kick in their door, and they know it."

Paul Wolfowitz, the US Deputy Defence Secretary, said that it was only a matter of time before an informant provided the crucial tip-off about Saddam. "It takes time for them to trust us to give us the information," he told NBC television, "but they're giving us more and more. I think what happened last week with the deaths of those two miserable creatures (Saddam's sons) is encouraging more people to come forward."

The Americans would not name the security chief targeted in the raid yesterday, saying only that he was believed to have taken over after the arrest last month of Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti, Saddam's cousin.

The Bush Administration says that it expects to pay $30 million to the man who revealed the whereabouts of Uday and Qusay. Richard Boucher, the State Department spokesman, said: "We look forward to being able to pay the reward, just as we've said we would."

Paul Bremer, head of the coalition's civilian administration in Iraq, has promised informants not only cash but also protection.

Plea for bodies

Ezzedine Muhammad Hassan al-Majid, Saddam Hussein's second cousin, has asked the US military to release the bodies of Uday and Qusay Hussein for burial.

The request was made in a letter to Paul Bremner, the US administrator in Iraq, and aims at an orthodox Muslim burial at the Hussein family cemetary in Tikrit, Saddam's birthplace.

Mr al-Majid, whose wife and children were killed by forces loyal to Saddam said in his letter: "They are, despite what injuries they have put me and my family and the Iraqis through, nothing less than corpses."

The bodies of Uday and Qusay have been held at a makeshift mortuary at Baghdad international airport.

 

AMNESTY: IRAQIS COMPLAIN OF TORTURE BY U.S. FORCES

Amnesty: Iraqis Complain of Torture by U.S. Forces
July 23, 2003

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqis detained by U.S. troops have complained of torture and degrading treatment, Amnesty International said Wednesday. There were also reports of troops shooting detainees, the London-based human rights watchdog said in a report based on interviews with former prisoners of the Americans across Iraq.

Amnesty staff heard complaints that included prolonged sleep deprivation and detainees being forced to stay in painful positions or wear hoods over their heads for long periods. "Such treatment would amount to 'torture and inhumane treatment' prohibited by the Fourth Geneva Convention and by international human rights law," Amnesty said. U.S. military officials were not immediately available to comment on the report.

Amnesty staff gathered testimony from former detainees around Iraq and from relatives of some still being held.

The organization made several requests to visit detention centers but were denied access by U.S. forces that have struggled to impose law and order since the invasion which toppled Saddam Hussein in April. "Detainees continue to report suffering extreme heat while housed in tents; insufficient water; inadequate washing facilities; open trenches for toilets; no change of clothes, even after two months' detention," Amnesty said.

Amnesty has said thousands are held in prisons run by U.S. troops. They include Abu Ghraib, one the most feared jails under Saddam, and Camp Cropper near Baghdad's airport.

The human rights group said it had received several reports of cases of detainees who have died in custody, "mostly as a result of shooting by members of the coalition forces." Amnesty said 22-year-old Alaa Jassem was killed when soldiers fired on detainees during a riot on June 13 at Abu Ghraib. Demonstrators threw bricks and poles at the soldiers. "According to eyewitnesses, Alaa Jassem was in a tent when he was shot. Seven other detainees were wounded," Amnesty said.

Other allegations reported by Amnesty included the case of Saadi al-Ubaydi on the morning of May 14, when two U.S. armed vehicles crashed through the stone wall surrounding his home. "Several soldiers forced their way in and beat him with their rifle butts. He ran out of the house to get away from them. Soldiers shot him a few meters away and he died immediately," the report said, citing witnesses in Ramadi.

Many Iraqis complain troops use heavy-handed tactics that humiliate householders when conducting weapons searches. "There continue to be many reports of members of the coalition forces engaging in house searches and damaging or destroying property without justification," Amnesty said. "There are also numerous reports of confiscation of property, including large sums of money, upon arrest."

 

PLEA FOR SADDAM'S SONS' BODIES

Plea for Saddam's sons' bodies
By Charles Clover
July 28 2003
Financial Times

Saddam Hussein's tribe has asked that the bodies of his sons, Uday and Qusay, be given to them for proper burial, Sheikh Mohammed Nida, a leader of the Albu Nasir tribe said yesterday.

Coalition officials were unavailable for comment on the matter, but Mr Nida said they had refused the request "for the time being". The sons were killed by US forces last week in a five-hour shoot-out in the city of Mosul.

The issue of their burial is a delicate one for the coalition: any funeral for the sons could be used to generate support for anti-coalition guerrillas in Iraq, but refusal would be seen as insensitive to Islamic traditions, which mandate a quick burial for the dead. The bodies are in cold storage in Baghdad airport. Charles Clover, Baghdad

 

UN: IRAQ AID GROUPS BEING TARGETED BY ATTACKERS

Iraq aid groups being targeted by attackers - U.N.

BAGHDAD, July 24 (Reuters) - Attacks against humanitarian groups working in Iraq, which have killed two aid workers this week, can no longer be considered isolated incidents, a United Nations spokesman said on Thursday.

"Certainly we can no longer call these isolated incidents, not at all," U.N. spokesman Salim Lone told a news conference. "It is not possible to believe that when there have been so many attacks.

"It clearly is very, very sad that those...whose only wish is to be of service to the Iraqi people are targeted and killed. It is particularly sad because our people are unarmed."

On Tuesday, a Sri Lankan technician for the International Committee of the Red Cross was killed and a driver was wounded when gunmen shot at their car south of Baghdad.

A day earlier, an Iraqi driver for the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) died when his car veered into a bus after being raked by gunfire by a passing car. A foreign worker was wounded in that attack, also south of the capital.

A World Food Programme office in the northern city of Mosul was attacked with a grenade early this month, and an IOM office there has also been attacked.

U.S.-led troops have been struggling to restore order in Iraq since they overthrew Saddam Hussein in April, and 44 soldiers have been killed in attacks since U.S. President George W. Bush declared major combat operations over on May 1.

Lone said the United Nations was reviewing security for groups that work under its umbrella in Iraq after the attacks, but that "more measures are needed". He said staff had been warned to watch out for possible attackers shooting from the passenger side of cars.

"They are easy, soft targets, and it is so easy to pick on us. We will clearly have to review and are reviewing once again the security precautions we take," he said.