Captured general grilled by British

A GENERAL from Saddam Hussein’s army has been captured in southern Iraq and is being pressed to provide strategic information, British officers said yesterday.

Group Capt Al Lockwood, a British spokesman, said the general was captured in the besieged city of Basra the highest-ranking Iraqi prisoner of war thus far.

"We'll be asking him quite politely if he's willing assist us to continue our operations against the paramilitary forces in Basra," Lockwood said.

Lockwood also said Royal Marine Commandos killed a Republican Guard colonel who apparently was sent to Basra to strengthen the resolve of the defence forces, who are encircled by British troops.

Further north, along the approach routes to Baghdad, some American units have paused while supply lines are shored up, but others were engaged in battles to clear the way for an all-out assault. US and British warplanes have focused three-quarters of their strikes in recent days on Republican Guard positions defending the capital.

The US Central Command said the latest targets hit by coalition aircraft included military facilities at the Abu Garayb Presidential Palace, the Karada military intelligence complex and the barracks of a major paramilitary training centre, all in different sectors of Baghdad. Several telephone exchanges in the city also were hit on Sunday, as well as a train loaded with Republican Guard tanks.

Although coalition commanders have been unflaggingly upbeat about the progress of the war, American soldiers in the field were jolted by news of a car bombing on Saturday in which an Iraqi soldier posing as a taxi driver gestured for help at a checkpoint near the city of Najaf, then blew up his car as soldiers approached.

Four Americans from the Army's 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division were killed; their names were not immediately released.

"It's a shame they are doing that, because now we're going to have to treat every civilian vehicle like it is hostile," said Staff Sgt Bryce Ivings of Sarasota, Florida, a member of 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment.

"If we accidentally kill a civilian because they took a wrong turn and came at us, it will be on their (the Iraqi leadership's) head."

Capt Chris Carter, Ivings' commander, told his men not to take chances.

"I'm not going to trust any civilian vehicle," said Carter, of Watkinsville, Georgia. "If you see any hostile intent, take it out."

Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf said at a briefing Sunday that several Iraqi civilians had been shot dead in their cars by coalition soldiers in a mood for vengeance after the suicide attack.

Lt Gen Hazem al-Rawi, a senior Iraqi defence official, said the suicide attack marked "the beginning of a long path of jihad for Iraqis and Arabs against the invaders". More than 4,000 volunteers have come from numerous Arab countries to participate in suicide attacks, he said.

Iraq's state television reported the Najaf bomber identified as Ali Jaafar al-Noamani, a noncommissioned officer with several children was posthumously promoted to colonel and awarded two medals by Saddam Hussein. His family reportedly was awarded 100 million dinars the equivalent of 36,000, a fortune in Iraq.

Iraq's vice president, Taha Yassin Ramadan, indicated the attack was part of a co-ordinated effort to thwart the invasion force, and he raised the spectre of terrorism on US or British soil.

"The day will come when a single martyrdom operation will kill 5,000 enemies," Ramadan said. "We will use any means to kill our enemy in our land and we will follow the enemy to its land. This is just the beginning."

Joint chiefs of staff chairman, Gen Richard Myers, in an interview Sunday with the BBC, said the attack was "a reminder that there are some very desperate people out there".

"I would think the toughest fighting is ahead of us," Myers said.

Fighting continued in several areas, notably around the southern cities of Nasiriyah and Basra.

Al-Sahhaf, the information minister, said Iraqi tribesman had shot down an Apache helicopter near Basra, killing the pilot. US Central Command said it had no information of such an incident.

In central Iraq, thousands of Marines pushed north on Sunday in seek and destroy missions, trying to clear the route toward Baghdad that they have nicknamed Ambush Alley.

The Marines were ordered to question each Iraqi civilian they passed, then hand out ration packets as a gesture of goodwill. One unit took its chaplain along to oversee the aid distribution.

US and British warplanes launched bombing raids early on Sunday near Karbala, south of Baghdad, targeting Iraqi fuel storage depots. Wing Commander Andy Suddards, who led a British Harrier raid on one of the depots, said one goal was to cut the fuel supply chain for Republican Guard tanks.

"The visibility was good and I saw the bang," Suddards said.

In the north, Kurdish militiamen opposed to Hussein moved on two fronts, joining US special forces in an attack on Islamic militants and advancing unopposed toward the government-held city of Kirkuk and its oil fields.

Machine-gun fire and bombardment were reported near positions of Ansar al-Islam operatives, who are alleged to have ties to al-Qaida.