Tue, Apr 22, 2003 page1

• US administrator visits Baghdad

  NABBING A POOH BAH The US military has captured Saddam's scientific research minister and intends to question him about Iraq's alleged nuclear program

  • AP
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  The retired US general appointed as Iraq's postwar administrator arrived in Baghdad yesterday, while two more top members of Saddam Hussein's regime -- including his son-in-law -- were reported captured.

  Landing at Baghdad's airport in his first postwar visit to the capital, retired Lieutenant General Jay Garner, 64, said his priority was to restore basic services such as water and electricity as soon as possible -- a task he said would take intense work.

  With Baghdad slowly returning to normal after days of looting and arson, Marines pulled back Sunday and left the US Army in control of the capital, where coalition-run radio announced an 11 pm to 6 am curfew.

  Tensions appeared to ease between the US and Syria, with US President George W. Bush saying Syria appears to be heeding warnings against sheltering escaped members of Saddam's regime.

  Israel, too, began letting down its guard. Authorities declared that the Iraqi missile threat against their citizens was over and prepared for the departure of 700 US soldiers manning Patriot missile installations there.

  US Central Command said forces had captured Abd al-Khaliq Abd al-Ghafar, Saddam's scientific research minister, on Saturday -- a development that could shed light on Iraq's nuclear program. Abd al-Ghafar was the four of hearts in the US military's most-wanted deck of cards.

  Also, Saddam's son-in-law and one of Saddam's bodyguards, both hiding in Syria, were persuaded to leave that country and surrendered to members of the opposition Iraqi National Congress in Baghdad, according to a spokesman for the group, Haider Ahmed.

  Jamal Mustafa Abdallah Sultan al-Tikriti is married to Saddam's youngest daughter, Hala, and was deputy head of Iraq's tribal affairs office. He was the nine of clubs in the deck of cards issued to US military to help them recognize regime members.

  He was being questioned by the opposition group and will be turned over to US officials, Ahmed said. Central Command had no information on the reported surrender.

  Seven of the 55 most-wanted members of Saddam's regime are now in custody, though none from the very top of the list. An eighth figure, Ali Hassan al-Majid -- nicknamed "Chemical Ali" for his use of poison gas against the Kurds -- is believed to have been killed in an airstrike.

  As for Saddam himself, Ahmad Chalabi, leader of the Iraqi National Congress exile group, said yesterday that Saddam is alive in Iraq and is moving from place to place.

  "We are aware of his movements and we are aware of the areas that he has been to, and we learn of this within 12 to 24 hours," he said. "We will work to develop more information about his whereabouts."

  The New York Times reported yesterday that a US military team said a scientist who claimed to have worked in Iraq's chemical weapons program for more than a decade told them Iraq destroyed chemical weapons and biological warfare equipment days before the war began.

  Members of the Mobile Exploitation Team Alpha, or MET Alpha, said the scientist led Americans to material that proved to be precursors for a toxic agent banned by chemical weapons treaties, the Times said. MET Alpha did not identify the scientist.

  The White House had no immediate comment, and US Central Command in Qatar could not confirm the report.

  In Baghdad, the US military opened a warehouse to UN aid shipments and stockpiled flour on Sunday, trying for head off potential food shortages. Workers labored to restore basic services like power and water. A convoy of food arrived over the weekend for the malnourished animals of Baghdad Zoo.

  US forces, together with returning Iraqi police, are trying to restore order until the interim authority led by Garner can take over.

  Garner heads the Office of Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance, set up by the US administration to help rebuild Iraq and eventually turn authority over to the Iraqis. His initial team of about 19 civilian administrators is to grow to about 450 over the next week.
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