Seraphim
12-10-2003, 08:26 PM
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031211/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_us_raid
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20031210/capt.dv11512101506.iraq__dv115.jpg
An Iraqi boy passes U.S. Army humvees next to the burned out building of Iraq (news - web sites) Information ministry in Baghdad Wednesday Dec. 10, 2003. Reportedly, Iraqi police and U.S. troops searched the building looking for looters. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer
MOSUL, Iraq - U.S. troops shot and killed a senior officer of the paramilitary group Saddam Fedayeen after storming his house in this northern city on Wednesday, his neighbors said.
The U.S. Army confirmed there were raids early Wednesday in Mosul but refused to comment on the reported death of Col. Ghanem Abdul-Ghani Sultan al-Zeidi.
Two of al-Zeidi's neighbors, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said U.S. troops stormed his one-story house in Mosul's central neighborhood of al-Sukar about 4 a.m. and shooting was heard later. Helicopters took part in the operation, the neighbors said.
The gate of al-Zeidi's house was locked Wednesday afternoon. There were several bullet holes in the gate. A black banner nearby read: "The heroic martyr Colonel Ghanem Abdul-Ghani Sultan al-Zeidi was martyred during a blatant aggression by American forces at his house on 12/10/2003."
Capt. Brian Cope, a spokesman for the 2nd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division, refused to comment on al-Zeidi's death.
Cope confirmed that the army carried out raids Wednesday against "35 separate targets" in Mosul. Cope, whose brigade controls Mosul, said dozens of people were captured in the raids including suspected members of Saddam Fedayeen and other former regime loyalists.
Hours after the raid, insurgents carried out two separate attacks in Mosul, killing two soldiers and wounding four.
Members of the Saddam Fedayeen, the paramilitary group that was run by Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s late son Odai, are believed to be taking part in attacks against U.S. occupation forces in Iraq (news - web sites).
Odai and his younger brother Qusai were killed by U.S. troops in Mosul in July.
Meanwhile, Iraq's U.S.-appointed interim government established a war crimes tribunal Wednesday to try former members of Saddam's regime.
Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, president of Iraq's Governing Council, said the new tribunal will cover crimes committed from July 17, 1968 — the day Saddam's Baath Party came to power — until May 1, 2003 — the day President Bush (news - web sites) declared major hostilities over.
"Today is an important historic event in the history of Iraq," al-Hakim said.
The tribunal will try cases stemming from mass executions of Iraqi Kurds in the 1980s, as well as the suppression of uprisings by Kurds and Shiite Muslims after the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites).
Al-Hakim said it would also try cases committed against Iran — with which Iraq fought a bloody 1980-88 war — and against Kuwait, which Iraq invaded in 1990, sparking the Gulf War.
The Associated Press first reported Friday that Iraq would create a war crimes tribunal.
http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20031210/capt.dv11512101506.iraq__dv115.jpg
An Iraqi boy passes U.S. Army humvees next to the burned out building of Iraq (news - web sites) Information ministry in Baghdad Wednesday Dec. 10, 2003. Reportedly, Iraqi police and U.S. troops searched the building looking for looters. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)
By BASSEM MROUE, Associated Press Writer
MOSUL, Iraq - U.S. troops shot and killed a senior officer of the paramilitary group Saddam Fedayeen after storming his house in this northern city on Wednesday, his neighbors said.
The U.S. Army confirmed there were raids early Wednesday in Mosul but refused to comment on the reported death of Col. Ghanem Abdul-Ghani Sultan al-Zeidi.
Two of al-Zeidi's neighbors, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said U.S. troops stormed his one-story house in Mosul's central neighborhood of al-Sukar about 4 a.m. and shooting was heard later. Helicopters took part in the operation, the neighbors said.
The gate of al-Zeidi's house was locked Wednesday afternoon. There were several bullet holes in the gate. A black banner nearby read: "The heroic martyr Colonel Ghanem Abdul-Ghani Sultan al-Zeidi was martyred during a blatant aggression by American forces at his house on 12/10/2003."
Capt. Brian Cope, a spokesman for the 2nd Brigade of the 101st Airborne Division, refused to comment on al-Zeidi's death.
Cope confirmed that the army carried out raids Wednesday against "35 separate targets" in Mosul. Cope, whose brigade controls Mosul, said dozens of people were captured in the raids including suspected members of Saddam Fedayeen and other former regime loyalists.
Hours after the raid, insurgents carried out two separate attacks in Mosul, killing two soldiers and wounding four.
Members of the Saddam Fedayeen, the paramilitary group that was run by Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s late son Odai, are believed to be taking part in attacks against U.S. occupation forces in Iraq (news - web sites).
Odai and his younger brother Qusai were killed by U.S. troops in Mosul in July.
Meanwhile, Iraq's U.S.-appointed interim government established a war crimes tribunal Wednesday to try former members of Saddam's regime.
Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, president of Iraq's Governing Council, said the new tribunal will cover crimes committed from July 17, 1968 — the day Saddam's Baath Party came to power — until May 1, 2003 — the day President Bush (news - web sites) declared major hostilities over.
"Today is an important historic event in the history of Iraq," al-Hakim said.
The tribunal will try cases stemming from mass executions of Iraqi Kurds in the 1980s, as well as the suppression of uprisings by Kurds and Shiite Muslims after the 1991 Gulf War (news - web sites).
Al-Hakim said it would also try cases committed against Iran — with which Iraq fought a bloody 1980-88 war — and against Kuwait, which Iraq invaded in 1990, sparking the Gulf War.
The Associated Press first reported Friday that Iraq would create a war crimes tribunal.