BRIEFING: AT WAR WITH IRAQ
BY WORLD TRIBUNE.COM WITH MIDDLE EAST NEWSLINE
Day 22 Ñ April 10, 3003
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Saddam said to have $1 billion on deposit in Lebanese bank

Iraqi President Saddam Hussein deposited $1 billion before the U.S.-led war against his country according to Lebanese opposition sources.

The sources based in the United States said Lebanese President Emile Lahoud facilitated a bank transfer by Saddam of $1 billion to the Beirut-based Al Mawared Bank. The bank and is owned by Marwan Kheireddine and the transfer was arranged by Lahoud's son, who is also named Emile.

The U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon quoted what it termed reliable Lebanese sources on Thursday that the Lahouds arranged a deal for the trading of Iraqi oil. The committee cited this as the reason for the Lebanese president's opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq.

Western intelligence sources did not confirm the report. But they said Saddam's son Uday had sent envoys before the war in Iraq to prepare for the escape of family members and assets. Saddam's wife, Sajadeh, and many of her children and grandchildren are said to be in the Syrian port of Latakia.

Suicide attack kill U.S. troops in Baghdad

Saddam loyalists have resumed suicide bombings against U.S. troops.

Several U.S. soldiers were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a military checkpoint in Baghdad on Thursday. An exact casualty figure was not reported.

Turkey sends monitors it Kirkuk

ANKARA Ñ Turkey has decided to send a small military team to monitor the coalition entry into the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

Turkish officials said Ankara aims to ensure that Kurdish fighters do not remain in control of the city, which is located amid the vast northern Iraqi oil fields. The fields are said to contain 40 percent of Iraq's oil wealth and Kurdish fighters have joined U.S. special operations forces in what appears to be the capture of the city.

The Turkish deployment of monitors was discussed and approved by the United States, officials said. They said Turkish Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul discussed the issue with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, who assured his Turkish counterpart that Kurdish forces would withdraw from Kirkuk after its capture. "We've accepted this," Gul said.

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