April 11 —
Key developments Friday in the war in Iraq:
U.S.-led forces expanded their control over Iraq as Mosul,
largest city in the north, fell without a fight. But looting erupted
and U.S. special forces were called in.
Barefoot and wearing civilian clothes, young Iraqi fighters
marched away from battle, abandoning Mosul without firing a
shot.
Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit is the last major holdout of
his regime, but no major troops units remain in the country, the
Pentagon said.
President Bush, declining to declare victory, said that he
doesn't know whether Saddam Hussein is dead or alive but "I know
he's no longer in power."
Lawlessness and lingering pockets of resistance to American
forces prolonged Baghdad's suffering. Hundreds of residents have
been killed, the city is without power, and the supply of water is
irregular.
Gen. Tommy Franks instructs U.S. troops to ensure that public
services and religious institutions continue to operate in the Iraqi
capital.
Kurdish fighters will leave oil-rich Kirkuk when enough American
troops arrive to take over, said a senior Kurdish leader.
The U.S. military issued a most-wanted list in the form of a deck
of cards, with Saddam Hussein as the ace of spades, to help troops
identify top Iraqi fugitives.
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld characterized looting in
Iraq as a period of "untidiness" and suggested it was only a
transitional phase on the way to freedom.
Since reaching Baghdad, U.S. Marines have been doing their own
kind of looting grabbing Iraqi pistols, rifles, uniforms and
pictures of Saddam Hussein. Now they've been ordered to dump what
they took or lose their rank.
President Vladimir Putin said he welcomed the fall of Saddam
Hussein, but called the U.S.-led war in Iraq illegitimate and a
threat to international law.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said it doesn't know
the whereabouts of the seven U.S. prisoners of war or who in Iraq is
responsible for them.
U.S. soldiers found the personal weapons cache of Saddam
Hussein's son Odai, including boxes of assault rifles and dozens of
ceremonial firearms in an abandoned house in Baghdad.
photo credit
and caption:
A truck loaded with furniture
looted from one of Saddam Hussein's presidential palaces rides
past a destroyed communication center in Baghdad Friday, April
11, 2003. (AP Photo/Jerome
Delay)
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