One of Saddam Hussein's most-feared lieutenants was in US hands yesterday, while hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims converged on two of Iraq's holy cities in an annual pilgrimage that had been banned for years under Saddam.
US soldiers trying to stop looting discovered more than US$600 million in US$100 bills behind a false wall in Iraq, Central Command spokesman Brigadier General Vincent Brooks said. Also, a total of more than 800 explosive suicide vests have been found in various places, he said.
Muhammad Hamza al-Zubaydi, who was captured Monday by the Iraqi opposition and turned over to American authorities for trial on war-crimes charges, is the highest-ranking figure on the US military's most-wanted list to be caught so far.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Al-Zubaydi was known as Saddam's "Shiite Thug" for his role in Iraq's bloody suppression of the Shiite Muslim uprising of 1991. Tens of thousands of people died in the revolt. Iraqi opposition groups have also accused al-Zubaydi of the 1999 assassination of a top Shiite cleric.
A former prime minister, al-Zubaydi was No. 18 -- the queen of spades -- in the US military's 55-card deck of cards of most-wanted regime figures.
Eight of the 55 most-wanted are now in custody. A ninth, Ali Hassan al-Majid -- known as "Chemical Ali" for his use of poison gas against Iraq's Kurds -- is believed to have been killed in an airstrike.
There was still no official confirmation that American or British forces had discovered the chemical or biological weapons cited by US President George W. Bush as the reason for going to war.
But US military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed they found material that could have been used to build chemical weapons. The find was made several days ago with the help of an Iraqi scientist who claimed to have worked in Saddam's chemical weapons program.
Many chemical weapons ingredients have nonmilitary purposes and officials cautioned that the findings, which are being analyzed, do not confirm the presence of chemical weapons.
The US government is sending more than 1,000 experts specializing in weapons, intelligence and computers to join the search for weapons of mass destruction. They will analyze documents, interrogate prisoners and scour suspicious sites, joining some 200 experts already on the hunt.
Also yesterday, Garner, Iraq's civilian administrator, visited the Kurdish north on his second day of a tour around the country. He arrived in Baghdad on Monday to take up his duties.
Garner landed in Sulaymaniyah, where he was met by a delegation from the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of the groups jockeying for power in postwar Iraq.
South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol yesterday declared emergency martial law, accusing the opposition of being “anti-state forces intent on overthrowing the regime” amid parliamentary wrangling over a budget bill. “To safeguard a liberal South Korea from the threats posed by North Korea’s communist forces and to eliminate anti-state elements plundering people’s freedom and happiness, I hereby declare emergency martial law,” Yoon said in a live televised address to the nation. “With no regard for the livelihoods of the people, the opposition party has paralysed governance solely for the sake of impeachments, special investigations, and shielding their leader from justice,” he
The Mainland Affairs Council and lawmakers yesterday accused a visiting Chinese university student of denigrating Taiwan’s sovereignty by referring to the national baseball team that won a first-ever Premier12 title as “China, Taipei team” (中國台北隊). “We deeply regret the Chinese student’s words, that have hurt the feelings of Taiwanese... The Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, as the organizers, should remind group members not to use inappropriate words and behavior,” a council statement said. “We hope these young Chinese can accurately observe the true views of Taiwanese, which would be a positive development for interactions between young people on the two sides of the Taiwan
PHONE CALLS: Two US lawmakers told Lai about the US Congress’ bipartisan support for Taiwan to preserve its democracy and freedom, and for stronger bilateral ties US House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson said during a telephone call with President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday morning that recognition of Taiwan is at the core of the US’ Indo-Pacific strategy, Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said. The call marked the first time Lai had spoken directly with Johnson, of the Republican Party, since taking office in May. Lai also had a call with US House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of the Democratic Party and a videoconference with Republican Senator Roger Wicker while in Guam, during a stopover on his way back from visiting the nation’s allies in the Pacific,
China is trying to set a "red line" for the incoming Trump administration and US allies by stepping up military activities in the region, a senior Taiwan security official said, including likely war games this weekend around Taiwan. China has held two rounds of war games around Taiwan so far this year, and its forces operate nearby on a daily basis. The official confirmed concerns expressed by other security officials in the region who have previously told Reuters that China could launch new drills to coincide with Taiwan President William Lai's (賴清德) trip to the Pacific this week which included visits to
RSS