Iraqi rebels seen as 3 distinct foes

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By

The coalition in Iraq believes the capture of Saddam Hussein leaves three distinct groups of anti-U.S. guerrillas that must be defeated or won over in the push toward home rule by June 30.

On the must-be-conquered list are the remaining hardline Ba'athists, perhaps numbering in the hundreds and led by Saddam's former No. 2 aide, Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri. The fugitive is believed to be directing attacks on coalition soldiers and Iraqi civilians participating in building a new Iraq.

The Coalition Provisional Authority, led by L. Paul Bremer, sees two other groups that might come over to the allies' side now that Saddam is behind bars.

Daniel Senor, a CPA spokesman, described them yesterday as midlevel former regime members who were waiting to see whether the guerrilla attacks would evict the coalition, leading to Saddam's return.

"They were hoping Saddam would return, because they wanted their jobs back at the ministries," Mr. Senor said. "They wanted the cars. They wanted the salary back."

The third group is made up of junior Ba'athists who refused to help the coalition because they feared Saddam would return.

"If Saddam would return, there would be a return to the mass graves and the torture chambers and the rape rooms," said Mr. Senor, a senior adviser to Mr. Bremer. "So those folks were just fearful of a Saddam return."

Mr. Senor said the "hopefuls" and the "fearfuls" in the Sunni areas of Baghdad, north to Tikrit, "are now in play" to come over to the coalition side.

With Saddam spending his third week in captivity, the coalition has yet to see a hoped-for sharp decrease in attacks, said Army Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, the allies' deputy director for operations.