A rchive Date
[ 14-04-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Iraq ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/Iraq/2003/03/26/50924-ap.html
Troops, civilians take up defensive posts
Looting ebbs, but signs of bitterness remain
Sat, April 5, 2003
BAGHDAD (AP) - Iraqi fighters, tanks and artillery blocked the main roads into Baghdad and black-clad members of President Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen militia prowled the streets and manned heavy machine-gun positions.
Artillery shelling rocked central Baghdad early Sunday shortly before 1 a.m. local time. Reporters with experience in other war zones said it sounded like outgoing artillery from a few kilometres away. At least one, they said, sounded like incoming. The streets were full of armed men Saturday night who have taken positions at major intersections and on main roads leading to the southern, southeastern and western exits of Baghdad.
Many civilians were on the streets too, carrying assault rifles. Parts of the city were deserted amid reports U.S. forces had penetrated the capital earlier Saturday and coalition troops had Baghdad surrounded.
Power supply seemed to have been restored in more parts of the city Saturday night.
Shortly after midnight, two deafening explosions in quick succession shook buildings in city.
Earlier, on the road to the airport, Iraqi troops danced atop what they said were U.S. armoured personnel carriers destroyed in battle Friday and Saturday. The Iraqis flashed the V-for-victory sign.
Clouds of black smoke darkened the skies from trenches of oil set alight as a defence but a steady stream of cars and buses passed through the plaza in front of Baghdad's large, ornate Mosque of the Unknown Soldier.
Several rockets were launched from a truck in the central Baghdad district al-Salhiya - making a roaring noise as they headed south. The rumblings of explosions could be heard throughout the city, growing ever louder as they shook buildings.
Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf held his usual midday news conference, telling reporters U.S. troops were not in the capital and that Iraqi forces had retaken the airport.
"Today, the tide has turned," al-Sahhaf said.
"We are destroying them."
Saddam urged his men Saturday to charge at the coalition forces "and destroy them."
His statement was read by al-Sahhaf.
Saddam said the coalition forces, by concentrating on Baghdad, have "weakened their capabilities on other frontlines."
Police cars moved in groups in two or three with sirens squealing and occupants flashing victory signs, carrying portraits of Saddam and waving Iraqi flags.
Members of the Fedayeen, a militia led by Saddam's son Odai, appeared in the city centre for the first time since the war began. They were easily identified in distinctive black uniforms.
Speaking to the Al-Arabiya Arab satellite channel, a man who said he was a member of the Fedayeen promised to to keep up the fight.
"They are cowards," he said of the Americans.
"They cannot face us on the ground. They control the sky but we are able to confront whoever goes on the ground," said the man, who covered his face with a red-checkered Kaffiyah to conceal his identity.
In Qatar, U.S. military officers said U.S. armoured vehicles and troops had entered the "heart of Baghdad" but there was no sign of them around the Tigris River, which flows through the heart of the city of five million.
U.S. officers did not say if U.S. troops remained in the city or how many had entered.
Knots of soldiers clad in Republican Guard uniforms, distinctive by their red triangular insignia, patrolled the southern outskirts of Baghdad around the neighbourhood Baladiya.
Bombing and artillery fire sounded throughout that area, anti-aircraft guns and mortars lined the southern entrance to the city but they were mostly off the road away from the main road - the most likely entry point of U.S. forces.
Throughout the morning, armed men in pickup cars dashed across Baghdad at high speed.
Long lines at gasoline stations underscored the sense of crisis. Some shops were still open. In the fabled Shorja market, also in the heart of Baghdad, hawkers selling batteries and flashlights were doing brisk business. Curiously, a small store that sells birds was open.
Some signs of panic were beginning to appear, however.
Armed men ran toward an area where a rumour said a coalition pilot had parachuted into the city centre. The gunmen's cars screeched to a halt. assault rifles at the ready, they sprinted to an area among high-rise apartment blocs in central Baghdad. There was no indication the report was true.
At the same time, thousands of frightened residents fled in bumper-to-bumper traffic and scorching 41-degree C heat. They packed buses, trucks, pickup cars, taxis, private cars - even horse-drawn carts - with blankets, foodstuffs, furniture, heaters, television sets, pillows, stoves, cooking pots, mattresses and pillows.
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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