Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has organized new armed units in Baghdad, Iraqi opposition sources said.
The units have been trained in urban warfare and assigned the mission of preventing insurgents from attacking regime interests in major cities.
"In Baghdad, he has distributed weapons, and there are cells in Baghdad
with instructions to impose basically a curfew and to fire upon anybody that
is seen walking in the streets," Iraqi National Congress spokesman Sharif Al
Hussein said.
Opposition sources said Saddam has made the defense of Baghdad a priority, Middle East Newsline reported. They said the military would be sheltered in civilian
areas and troops would be ordered to prevent any U.S. ground invasion of the
Iraqi capital.
One of the Saddam units being trained to enforce security in Baghdad is
called the Jerusalem Army, the sources aid. On Thursday, an estimated
15,000 people, dressed in uniforms and holding rifles, marched through
Baghdad in a demonstration of support for Saddam.
"The Special Republican Guards, Republican Guards, and security forces
are trained for urban warfare and to put down uprisings," a new report by
the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said.
"The Republican Guards units never broke during the Gulf War, and the army's
regular armored, mechanized, and commando/special forces units have
generally fought with considerable determination when ordered to do so."
Iraqi opposition leaders, including those based in Iran, are scheduled
to meet Bush administration officials today [Aug. 9] to discuss ways to topple
Saddam. The officials were identified as Undersecretary of State Marc
Grossman and Undersecretary of Defense Doug Feith.
Al Hussein said the Saddam regime will not be defended by the Iraqi
military. He said the message he wants to relay to the United States is to
target Saddam's power structure rather than a military which does not plan
to fight.
"Nobody in Iraq will defend that regime, including the military, both
the regular army and the Republican Guard, elements of the security forces
and the general population," Al Hussein said. "All of Iraq has suffered for
many years from the oppression of Saddam Hussein's regime, and there is not
a single person out there in Iraq that will fight or defend him."
Al Hussein said Iraqi opposition forces have been recruited in Iraqi
cities and can be prepared to attack regime installations. He said the
regime no longer controls one-third of the country and that most of Saddam's
troops will flee fighting with the United States or its allies.
"Tt's a lot easier to enter and exit from Iraq," Al Hussein said. "It's
a lot easier to carry out operations inside Iraq."
[On Friday, the London-based Al Hayat daily quoted Turkish sources as
saying that Ankara's military has taken over an abandoned Iraqi air force
base in northern Iraq. The sources said the base is being prepared to serve
as a launching pad for attacks on Baghdad.]
Al Hussein said the Iraqi opposition would be receiving funds from the
U.S. Defense Department that he not specify. But he said the operations
would take place in and around Iraq and were refused funding by the State
Department.
The State Department has rejected relaying funds to any military or
espionage operations. But Al Hussein said the operations being discussed
were more suited to the Pentagon.
