U.S. TARGETS WAHABIS IN IRAQI MISSION
The United States has launched another counter-insurgency
offensive in Iraq Ñ this time aimed at Islamic combatants believed financed
by Saudi Arabia.
U.S. Central Command has termed the latest operation Ivy Serpent and
meant to stop the emerging pro-Saudi Wahabi insurgency movement. The
military operation, the fourth in a month, began on late Saturday and scores
of
people have been arrested in the Sunni Triangle north of Baghdad.
Officials from Central Command said Ivy Serpent focuses around the
cities of Bayji, Huwayiah and Samarra. "Coalition members encourage the
local Iraqi leadership to take the initiative and aid in the
capture of subversive elements that attempt to hinder the rebuilding of
Iraq," the command said in a statement.
The Wahabi movement is said to receive funds from members of the ruling
families in Saudi Arabia and Qatar and has formed insurgency cells based in
mosques and
schools in and around Baghdad. U.S. officials said that in many cases the
Wahabis have cooperated with loyalists of deposed
President Saddam Hussein.
On Sunday, an unknown group called the "Armed Islamic Group for Al
Qaida" claimed responsibility for recent attacks on U.S. troops in the Sunni
Triangle and warned of additional strikes that would "break the back of
America." In a statement to the Dubai-based Al Arabiya satellite television,
the group said it launched operations against U.S. forces that had been
attributed to Saddam loyalists.
"I swear by God that none of his [Saddam] followers carried out any holy
war operations as he claims," an unidentified spokesman told the Saudi-owned
satellite channel. "They are a result of our brothers in holy war."
Officials said the U.S. Army's 4th Infantry Division launched raids in
the towns of Balad and Baqouba along the Tigris River on Sunday. The two
towns are said to be the focus of the illegal weapons market employed by
Sunni insurgents loyal to Saddam. On Monday, the military reported the
arrest of more than 100 insurgents and the capture of 800 mortars.
The U.S. military in the Baghdad area has come under repeated Sunni
attacks from mortar and rocket-propelled grenades. Many of the attacks were
believed to have been organized by members of the former ruling Ba'ath Party
and the paramilitary Fedayeen Saddam force.
In Washington, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld reported a debate
within the U.S. intelligence community over the extent of the Iraqi
insurgency. He said the intelligence agencies agree that the insurgency has
been organized in regions and cities, but have not determined that the
resistance is directed by a national leadership.
Officials said that so far the 4th Infantry has captured two former
Iraqi generals. One of them came from the Fedayeen and the other was from
the air force.
The alliance of the Wahabis and Saddam loyalists have resulted in an
organized Sunni insurgency in northern Iraq, officials said. They said Sunni
insurgents have formed a network of agents and scouts to track the movements
of U.S. forces.
This has been the fourth U.S. military offensive in the Sunni Triangle.
The three previous missions were dubbed Peninsula Strike, Desert Scorpion
and Sidewinder and resulted in the detention of hundreds of detainees, many
of whom were released.
On Sunday, the United States named a 25-member governing council of
Iraqis with power to name ministers and approve a budget for 2004. The
council contains 13 Shiites, 5 Kurds, 5 Sunnis, 1 Christian and 1 Turkman.
Shi'ites are said to comprise 60 percent of Iraq's 24 million people.
The panel contains Iraqi National Congress leader Ahmed Chalabi, Abdul
Aziz Al Hakim, a leader of the pro-Iranian Supreme Council for the Islamic
Revolution, and Kurdish leaders Massoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani.
