Iraqi security forces ‘worked against’ U.S.

FALLUJAH, Iraq — A U.S. military commander said 10 percent of newly trained Iraqi security forces “worked against” U.S. forces in the past three weeks of fighting in Fallujah and the southern city of Najaf, a sign of how difficult it will be to assemble an Iraqi army and police force.

An additional 40 percent of the Iraqi security forces walked off the job because they did not want to fight fellow Iraqis, said Maj. Gen. Martin Dempsey, commander of the Army’s 1st Armored Division.

The general’s admission came on a day when U.S. commanders said guerrillas fighting the U.S.-led coalition in Fallujah must honor a disarmament deal or face a new offensive, and as Bush administration officials in Washington faced sharp questioning on Capitol Hill over postwar reconstruction.

The recent surge in violence has inhibited private firms working in Iraq, with both German engineering giant Siemens and U.S.-based General Electric revealing yesterday they have suspended or halted work on infrastructure contracts because they could not guarantee the safety of their employees.

Guerrillas and residents in Fallujah have “days, not weeks” to turn in heavy weapons, Lt. Gen. James Conway, the top Marine commander in Iraq, said yesterday. He warned that fighting could resume and that a U.S. push to take the city could be costly for both sides.

Witnesses said Fallujah’s front lines were calm yesterday, though clashes erupted in the nearby town of Karma.

The general’s ultimatum came two days after an agreement was reached in which city leaders called on anticoalition insurgents to hand over their heavy weapons in return for a U.S. pledge to hold back on plans to storm the city and to allow the return of families who fled.

The few arms that have been surrendered so far were “junk,” Marine commanders said, including rocket-propelled grenade rounds marked “inert,” 100 rusted mortar shells, dud rockets and unusable guns.

In Washington, National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice made a rare trip to Capitol Hill for separate closed-door briefings with Republican and Democratic lawmakers on Iraq.

The sessions, in which Miss Rice was questioned closely about the military, political and financial challenges in Iraq, came as lawmakers finished three days of sometimes-contentious hearings with State and Defense department officials about the administration’s plans for Iraq.

In Baghdad, meanwhile, a foreigner was killed and his Iraqi translator was wounded by gunmen who opened fire on their bulletproof vehicle yesterday. South African officials said they believed the victim was a South African national working as a security contractor.

German Interior Minister Otto Schily in Berlin yesterday said that two German security specialists whose convoy was ambushed in Iraq earlier this month are believed to be dead.

The upswing in violence has made April the bloodiest month for the American-led military since the conflict began in March 2003. At least 100 soldiers and five American civilian contractors have been killed. Dozens of foreigners have been abducted in a wave of kidnappings, with about 15 still held captive.

New figures for the Iraqi casualty toll from this month’s fighting emerged yesterday, with the health minister saying 576 Iraqi insurgents and civilians died in combat since April 1 — sharply lower than earlier estimates.

A spokesman for British forces responsible for the southern Iraqi city of Basra lowered the reported death toll from a series of suicide bombings that targeted police stations there Wednesday to 50 persons.

The spokesman, Capt. Hisham Halawi, said a check with hospitals showed 50 dead, 20 of them children. Earlier reports had put the figure at 68 dead.

In Fallujah, Gen. Conway warned that the Marines’ patience is wearing thin and questioned whether the civic leaders who negotiated with U.S. officials had much influence over the insurgents.

“We are somewhat questioning whether they represent the people of Fallujah, because it is our estimate that the people of Fallujah have not responded well to the agreement that was made in this very room,” Gen. Conway said.

Hundreds of foreign fighters believed to be in Fallujah have been using the lull in fighting to strengthen their positions and are expected to fight to the death, the general said.

The failure of many in the Iraqi security forces to fight is significant because President Bush’s exit strategy depends on moving U.S. troops out of Iraq’s cities and turning over responsibility for security to local forces.

The United States, meanwhile, was criticized by Human Rights Watch for what the group said was a failure to provide clear and consistent information on the treatment of some 10,000 civilian detainees.

“Many people have been held for months without knowing why,” said Richard Dicker, director of the group’s International Justice program. “The U.S. military needs either to inform people promptly of charges against them if they are suspected of a crime, or to give them the right to appeal and a six-month review if they are held on security grounds.”

The compilation of Iraqi deaths by Health Minister Khudayer Abbas since April 1 was sharply lower than a U.S. military estimate of about 1,000 insurgents killed and about half the Associated Press tally of 1,170 killed, an estimate based on statements from hospital officials, police and the U.S. military.