- BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Arab
fighters who traveled to Iraq to help battle U.S. forces controlled parts
of Baghdad on Thursday, manning checkpoints and patrolling streets as U.S.
planes attacked targets in the area.
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- Non-Iraqi Arab fighters were out in force on the streets
of the Mansur district west of the Tigris river, close to the Iraqi intelligence
service headquarters.
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- They were also in control of streets in the Aadhamiya
and Waziriya districts north of the city center.
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- U.S. planes swooped overhead, hitting targets in areas
under Arab control, but American forces, who appeared to have withdrawn
from some areas they moved through on Wednesday, were nowhere to be seen.
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- There was also no sign of Iraqi forces. Abandoned Iraqi
artillery pieces and missile launchers could be seen in the streets.
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- Some of the Arab fighters fired rocket-propelled grenades,
although it was not clear what they were aiming at. Sporadic sniper fire
could also be heard.
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- A U.S. military source told Reuters that there had been
fighting for some hours around a mosque in Aadhamiya.
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- A BBC correspondent reported from the scene of what appeared
to be the same incident that U.S. Marines were searching a mosque in the
belief that Saddam Hussein might be hiding there.
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- "Having secured the area around the presidential
palace, the order came through to search a mosque where it's thought Saddam
Hussein may be hiding," the BBC's David Willis said.
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- "Again, fierce fighting accompanied the Marines'
arrival. Thick black smoke now hangs over the Tigris and the search of
the mosque is currently under way."
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- The atmosphere in much of the city was tense, with gangs
of looters armed with hammers and chainsaws ransacking buildings.
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- Thousands of volunteers from across the Arab world are
thought to be in Iraq to fight U.S. and British forces.
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- Iraqi officials said on March 30 that more than 4,000
"Mujahideen" had already arrived and more were on the way.
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- Ahead of the war, an audio tape believed to be from al
Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden exhorted Muslims to fight U.S. forces.
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- Saddam Hussein's Baath Party was secular and traditionally
hostile to Islamic fundamentalists, but Iraq, which has long championed
the Palestinian cause, laced its appeals for help in fighting invading
U.S. and British troops with references to Islam.
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