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.