Iraqis plead for order as two key Saddam aides held by US military

IRAQI mosque preachers sought to calm tensions with US troops yesterday and demanded that the United States establish a government to restore order after US President George W Bush declared the war over.

While grappling with post-war chaos, the US military said it was holding two more of deposed President Saddam Hussein's top aides, including one who helped direct his weapons programs.

It named him as Abdul Tawab Mullah Hwaish, Minister of Military Industrialisation, which oversaw the development of weapons of mass destruction in the 1980s.

Hwaish was number 16 on the US list of 55 most wanted Iraqis. He was taken into custody on Thursday, along with Taha Mohieddin Ma'rouf, an Iraqi vice president and member of Saddam's Revolutionary Command Council, who was number 42 on the list.

Seventeen people from the target list are now known to have surrendered or been captured since it was issued after US and British invasion forces toppled Saddam on April 9.

The continuing hunt for Saddam and his inner circle is one reason why Mr Bush has stopped short of formally ending the war ostensibly fought to rid Iraq of banned weapons, whose existence Saddam denied. US and British forces have yet to find any.

Many Iraqis are happy at Saddam's removal but have made clear they want US troops to leave as soon as possible.

"To America and its allies we say: where are your honey-sweet promises? Now is the time to fulfill them," Sheikh Ahmad al-Issawi said in a sermon at Baghdad's Abdel-Qader Kilani mosque.

"Where is the government?" he asked. "Install a government as quickly as possible even if it is an emergency government. Maintain security and protect public and private possessions from looters and get public services, water and electricity, back to normal."

In the tense western city of Falluja, a Muslim prayer leader called on townsfolk not to fight US soldiers who killed 15 demonstrators earlier this week and then suffered seven wounded in a reprisal attack on the main US base in the town.

"I want to tell you, to tell all of the people here in Falluja, not to attack Americans. If you do they will kill you," one prayer leader told worshipers at a mosque opposite the US post. "They have tanks, how can you fight tanks?"

The mayor of Falluja held "peace talks" with a major at the US camp, American soldiers said. But anger still simmered on the streets, where some said they preferred Saddam's rule to the US "occupation". A poster read, "Sooner or later, US killers, we will kick you out."

Iraqis are dismayed at the breakdown in law and order, and angry about shortages of water, power and other basic services.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld met British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London to discuss a push for faster reconstruction and humanitarian efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Water at the moment is critical," said Veronique Taveau, spokeswoman for the UN Office of the Humanitarian Co-ordinator in Iraq. Securing food warehouses was also a high priority.

Ms Taveau, one of 21 UN international staff who returned to Baghdad on Thursday, said their first task was to assess overall humanitarian needs, especially a water system disrupted by war damage, looting and electricity cuts.

International aid agencies appealed yesterday for the United Nations to be given a key role urgently in rebuilding Iraq.