- (AFP) -- Seven people were killed and 40 wounded when
a car bomb exploded outside Jordan's embassy in Baghdad, a doctor said,
dealing a new blow to US efforts to restore order to the country.
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- Following the explosion dozens of Iraqis invaded the
embassy, screasming curses against Jordan and the Jordanians and tearing
up portraits of King Abdullah II, an AFP correspondent witnessed.
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- A Jordanian government spokesman described the blast,
which was not immediately claimed, as "a cowardly terrorist attack."
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- The reasons for the attack were not immediately clear,
though Jordan recently gave asylum to relatives of ousted Iraqi dictator
Saddam Hussein, who is still at large despite the best efforts of occupying
US forces to track him down.
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- The blast came 99 days after US President George W. Bush
declared major combat operations in Iraq over, though senior US military
officials admit the war against Saddam's supporters and other opponents
of the occupation is far from ended.
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- General Raymond Odierno, the head of the 4th Infantry
Division (4ID), said in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit Thursday that the military
had arrested 49 people overnight, including four Saddam loyalists.
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- "One was a Fedayeen leader arrested in Tikrit, one
was a former regime loyalist in Tikrit, and two were former associates
of (Saddam's sons) Qusay and Uday in Kirkuk," Odierno said.
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- The general estimated that Saddam was "on the run,
moving every hour to six hours, he could be in the area."
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- "He is changing locations every day" because
his hiding network is being destroyed as the 4th ID continues with hard-hitting
raids that have been carried out over the past 16-17 days, he said.
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- Odierno also alleged, "Now they have to pay people
more money to conduct anti-US operations. Before it was 250 dollars to
conduct an attack, 1,000 dollars if it was successful."
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- He listed the new price for an attack at 1,000 dollars
and a successful kill at 5,000 dollars.
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- The 4ID is scouring the area around Tikrit, Saddam's
hometown, 175 kilometers (110 miles) north of Baghdad, in search of the
fugitive strongman, who has a 25 million dollar price on his head.
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- But the top US ground commander in Iraq, General Ricardo
Sanchez, said in an interview published Thursday that troops would be less
aggressive in their searches to avoid alienating the local population.
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- The change in tactics follows a drop in the number of
attacks on coalition forces in Iraq, increased reliance on local intelligence
and advice by local leaders and the population, Sanchez told the New York
Times.
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- He said the improved intelligence enabled a "precision
approach" in planning and carrying out operations to capture Saddam
Hussein supporters.
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- There were "multiple indicators" that "our
iron-fisted approach ... was beginning to alienate Iraqis," he said,
adding that the complaints came from members of the US-installed Governing
Council and the population in general.
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- Their message," he said, has been that "when
you take a father in front of his family and put a bag over his head and
put him on the ground, you have had a significant adverse effect on his
dignity and respect in the eyes of his family."
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- He said the raids were seen as not sensitive enough to
Iraqi culture and traditions.
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- "Unquestionably, I think, we created in this culture
some Iraqis that then had to act because of their value systems against
us in terms of revenge, possibly because there were casualties on their
side and also because of the impact on their dignity and respect,"
he said.
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- Under the new rules, US forces might pull out of Iraqi
towns that are quiet, leaving policing duties to the Iraqis, Sanchez said.
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- In conducting raids, he added, a "cordon and knock"
procedure will be used by which a home is surrounded and US troops seek
permission to enter accompanied by an Iraqi representative, instead of
breaking down the door.
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- And when searching a mosque is required, US troops will
first send in Iraqi representatives.
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- "We are in fact at a critical point," Sanchez
said. "The need for us to preserve the support of the Iraqi people
that are lined up behind the coalition right now is important."
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- In other developments, Russia said Thursday that only
a new UN Security Council resolution on Iraq would legitimize the Governing
Council and a political peace process.
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- Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said in an official statement
that Russia -- which has veto power within the UN council -- "would
be able to recognize the temporary leadership of Iraq" if a new resolution
was drafted.
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- But Ivanov's statement said the new UN resolution must
also set "precise dates for agreeing a new constitution and holding
democratic elections" in Iraq.
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- The statement showed signs of Russia approving current
US-led efforts to set up a political peace process for Iraq, but also seeking
a role in the efforts.
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