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01-23-2004, 09:13 PM
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=2&u=/ap/20040123/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_41
U.S. Troops Capture Iraq Rebel Leader
2 hours, 21 minutes ago Add Top Stories - AP to My Yahoo!
By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. forces in Iraq (news - web sites) captured a leader of the insurgency who is believed to be a close associate of Abu Musab Zarqawi, described by some as a key link between al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), a senior American official said in Washington on Friday.
U.S. troops captured Husam al-Yemeni Thursday, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He is described by U.S. officials as a top member of the al-Qaida linked Ansar al-Islam group and the leader of an insurgency cell in Fallujah, west of Baghdad.
In other military developments, a U.S. Army OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopter attached to the 101st Airborne Division crashed Friday in northern Iraq, killing the two pilots, the U.S. military said.
The cause of the crash was unclear. It was the fourth helicopter crash suffered by U.S. forces in Iraq this month. Friday's deaths brought to 507 the number of American service members who have died since a U.S.-led coalition launched the Iraq war March 20.
Also on Friday, the Bush administration said that it was holding to its July 1 deadline for ending the U.S. occupation but the method of selecting a new government wasn't decided.
"We have an open mind about how to most effectively facilitate an orderly transfer of sovereignty," State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said.
The U.S.-backed plan for handing over power to Iraqis is unacceptable as it stands, according to a top Shiite Muslim leader who met with President Bush (news - web sites) this week.
However, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim said Friday that the Americans, as well as others, are slowly coming around to the need for elections to chose a new legislature rather than have the members named by 18 regional caucuses.
"As it stands, it's unacceptable," al-Hakim said of the political blueprint reached Nov. 15 between L. Paul Bremer, America's top civilian official in Iraq, and the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council. "It was hurriedly agreed."
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) is expected to announce on Monday he was sending experts to Iraq to try to find a formula acceptable to all Iraqi groups, and determine whether direct elections were possible.
"We are looking forward to an early positive response from the secretary-general and that team so that we can basically investigate all the alternatives," Ereli said.
U.S. Troops Capture Iraq Rebel Leader
2 hours, 21 minutes ago Add Top Stories - AP to My Yahoo!
By HAMZA HENDAWI, Associated Press Writer
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. forces in Iraq (news - web sites) captured a leader of the insurgency who is believed to be a close associate of Abu Musab Zarqawi, described by some as a key link between al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein (news - web sites), a senior American official said in Washington on Friday.
U.S. troops captured Husam al-Yemeni Thursday, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. He is described by U.S. officials as a top member of the al-Qaida linked Ansar al-Islam group and the leader of an insurgency cell in Fallujah, west of Baghdad.
In other military developments, a U.S. Army OH-58 Kiowa Warrior helicopter attached to the 101st Airborne Division crashed Friday in northern Iraq, killing the two pilots, the U.S. military said.
The cause of the crash was unclear. It was the fourth helicopter crash suffered by U.S. forces in Iraq this month. Friday's deaths brought to 507 the number of American service members who have died since a U.S.-led coalition launched the Iraq war March 20.
Also on Friday, the Bush administration said that it was holding to its July 1 deadline for ending the U.S. occupation but the method of selecting a new government wasn't decided.
"We have an open mind about how to most effectively facilitate an orderly transfer of sovereignty," State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said.
The U.S.-backed plan for handing over power to Iraqis is unacceptable as it stands, according to a top Shiite Muslim leader who met with President Bush (news - web sites) this week.
However, Abdul-Aziz al-Hakim said Friday that the Americans, as well as others, are slowly coming around to the need for elections to chose a new legislature rather than have the members named by 18 regional caucuses.
"As it stands, it's unacceptable," al-Hakim said of the political blueprint reached Nov. 15 between L. Paul Bremer, America's top civilian official in Iraq, and the U.S.-appointed Iraqi Governing Council. "It was hurriedly agreed."
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) is expected to announce on Monday he was sending experts to Iraq to try to find a formula acceptable to all Iraqi groups, and determine whether direct elections were possible.
"We are looking forward to an early positive response from the secretary-general and that team so that we can basically investigate all the alternatives," Ereli said.