In a significant retreat in US efforts to seize weapons held by Iraqi citizens, US and British officials said Saturday that Iraqis would be allowed to keep AK-47 assault rifles in their homes and businesses.
While US officials gave no public explanation for amending what had been a much tougher plan to rid postwar Iraq of heavy weapons, military officials have said they recognize the difficulties in disarming citizens at a time when Iraqis feel their personal safety is still at risk.
The civilian disarmament policy is central to efforts by the US and British occupation authorities to reduce the high level of violent street crime here. The policy is also aimed at stopping sporadic guerrilla attacks like those that have killed or injured US soldiers in recent weeks.
The continuing threat was evident Saturday when US troops arrested 15 high-ranking Iraqi police officers, including six generals, and charged them with trying to reorganize elements of the deposed Baath Party.
US officials said that the group's apparent leader was Maj. Gen. Akram Abdul Razak, dean of Iraq's national police academy, and that the group had been holding clandestine meetings at the academy every Saturday morning.
The developments on Saturday highlighted the contradictory demands of restoring security in Iraq. On the one hand, US officials are urgently trying to restore law and order by building police forces and banning weapons. At the same time, law-abiding Iraqis are vociferously complaining that they need to defend their homes and businesses. Potentially undermining all these security efforts is the specter of former high-ranking Baathists who may be seeking to destabilize the country.
The disarmament policy was announced in general terms on May 22 by L. Paul Bremer, the top civilian administrator in Iraq.
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