CAMP AS SAYLIYAH, Qatar April 5 —
Coalition aircraft on Saturday struck the villa of an Iraqi
general known as "Chemical Ali" for ordering a poison gas attack
that killed thousands of Kurds in 1988. U.S. military officials
could not confirm where he was or if he was hurt.
Two coalition aircraft used laser-guided munitions to attack Gen.
Ali Hassan al-Majid's home in the southern city of Basra, which is
250 miles southeast of Baghdad and under siege by British
troops.
The U.S. military said it was not known if the general was there
at the time or if he survived. An evaluation of the mission was
under way, said Lt. Cmdr. Charles Owens.
"We only put out what we can confirm," Owens said. "We are
continuing to target the leadership of the regime and legitimate
military targets."
A source at field headquarters for the British army said he
believed al-Majid was in the house when the attack occurred, but his
fate was unknown, according to British pool reports.
Air Force Maj. Gen. Gene Renuart said officials believe al-Majid
had been in the hospital where Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch had been held
captive. But on the night military commandos rescued her last week,
the general was not there, Renuart said.
"That's not to say that we haven't been tracking him down at some
other locations and will continue to do so until we're pretty
confident that he's been eliminated," Renuart said at U.S. Central
Command in Qatar.
Al-Majid is a first cousin of President Saddam Hussein and a
member of his inner circle. He holds the military title "southern
commander of forces" and has been associated with some of the most
brutal episodes of Saddam's regime
He boasted of ordering attacks on Iraqi Kurds, including the 1988
gas bomb strike on the village of Halabja, where an estimated 5,000
people died. He has been linked to crackdowns on Shiites in southern
Iraq and served as governor of Kuwait during Iraq's seven-month
occupation of the emirate in 1990-1991.
Al-Majid's military responsibilities include oversight of Basra,
Iraq's second-largest city.
British soldiers, deployed there for more than two weeks, have
penetrated closer to the city center as fierce battles continued
with Iraqi fighters, who also faced residents who oppose Saddam's
regime. Britain's 7th Armored Brigade descended from the famed
"Desert Rats" and the Royal Marines are awaiting orders to launch
their final push.
British forces on Friday stormed into several houses that
belonged to members of Sadaam's Baath Party and the Fedayeen
militia, according to Associated Press Television News. More than 70
suspects were taken into custody as one woman cried out in English,
"What about my husband?"
"There was no shots fired," said Maj. Paul Nanson, the British
officer in charge of the operation. "We gave a good warning before
we came in. We have been playing warnings to people to stay in their
houses. And we only lifted those people who we have got a very good
intelligence on."
He said some of the suspects had been identified to the military
by their neighbors.
Also Friday, British soldiers pulled down a massive Saddam statue
at the gates of Basra.
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