- A former senior general in Saddam Hussein's army made
a triumphant entry into the besieged city of Fallujah yesterday and was
greeted by flag-waving locals celebrating the departure of US marines.
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- Maj Gen Jassem Mohammed Saleh, who headed Saddam's infantry
forces, is to take over as head of what American officials are calling
the "1st battalion of the proposed Fallujah Brigade".
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- This is a new force to police the Sunni stronghold.
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- His appearance came as two marines were killed and six
wounded in the city when their patrol was attacked by a suicide car bomber.
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- The new Iraqi battalion will have up to 1,100 men, many
of them former members of Saddam's forces and some insurgents who have
been fighting the marines.
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- American commanders argued that there had been no deal
with the insurgents and the marines leaving the city were not handing over
control but simply "repositioning" their forces.
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- The locally-brokered deal came after President George
W Bush decided the political risks of fighting for Fallujah street by street
were too great. Abandoning much bellicose rhetoric about wiping out the
foreign fighters and Saddam loyalists, US commanders decided to allow at
least some of these elements to police the city with their blessing.
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- "This is not a withdrawal, it is not a retreat,"
insisted Brig Gen Mark Kimmitt, the senior US military spokesman in Iraq.
"But as long as we continue to see progress, we will continue to pursue
the political track."
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- He said the new force would start to man checkpoints.
Gareth Bayley, a British coalition spokesman, said: "Talk of a peace
deal is over the top. What we have here is a tactical change."
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- Tanks and American troops left Fallujah after pulling
down barbed wire defences around the soft drinks factory where they had
set up a base for the past three weeks.
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- Up to 80 marines remained but were expected to withdraw
to a base outside Fallujah last night.
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- Many ordinary marines said they did not believe the initiative
would work and it could endanger their lives when they had to revert to
the "plan A" of a full-scale offensive to take Fallujah.
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- "Honestly, I don't think they're going to be able
to do it," said Cpl Elias Chavez, 28.
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- "We had the insurgents cordoned off, they couldn't
go anywhere, we had a chance to get them. Now they can flee wherever they
want and we're still going to have to deal with them."
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- He said the new force, largely made up of Fallujah residents,
would be unlikely to apprehend or clamp down on anti-coalition fighters.
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- By leaving without defeating the insurgents, their deployment
since April 5, following the killing and mutilation of four US defence
contractors, "was a waste of time, of resources and of lives".
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- "Everyone feels the same, especially those who know
someone who was killed."
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- L Cpl Julius Wright, 20, said: "Now it's going to
get worse. We pulled out when we should of gone in."
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- Gen Saleh shook hands with marine commanders before he
entered the city, which is thought to house 2,000 insurgents.
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- Gen Kimmitt said he had little knowledge of the general's
background but he had been "initially vetted".
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- The appointment is a stunning reversal of US policy,
which was to exclude all Ba'ath Party members who held senior posts under
Saddam.
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- But Gen Kimmitt said the new Fallujah force would be
"completely integrated" with US forces and "under operational
control" of marine commanders.
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- "Marines will continue to maintain a strong presence
in and around Fallujah. We are certainly not withdrawing from Fallujah."
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- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2004.
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