Today: April 03, 2003 at 13:50:25 PST
Iraqi Officials Meet in Occupied Town
By RAVI NESSMAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NUMANIYAH, IRAQ (AP) -
Nervous and angry, more than a dozen Iraqi officials met Thursday with the top U.S. Marine officer in this Tigris River town to ask for cooperation in re-establishing order a day after U.S. forces captured it.
The complaints came fast and furious: Looters have been targeting government buildings. The electricity has been cut. The hospital's backup generator has failed.
"No police, no government, the essential services are gone now," one of the leaders complained.
All 13 men gathered in the government office agreed: Since Numaniyah fell Wednesday afternoon, the city of about 80,000 has been in chaos.
None of them would give their names, saying they feared retribution for talking to American troops if the Iraqi regime somehow retook the city.
When a Marine demanded they remove a photo of Saddam Hussein from the wall before the meeting, they refused, also out of fear. They told the Marine he was free to take it down, but they could not. He did, and tossed it against a wall with a shatter of glass.
Lt. Col. Michael Belcher, commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, which controls the city, walked in, wearing green camouflage, a flak jacket and helmet.
The Iraqi men, in suits and slacks, sat in chairs arrayed around the office walls. A few smoked, and one clacked his worry beads together.
Through a translator, the men expressed fear that they no longer had a police force. City offices were being looted of furniture and vital government records as Marines watched, they said.
They were anxious that without weapons or police, the bank would be robbed.
"The security of the town is a common concern for both of us," Belcher said. "It is our goal to get the police department up and running."
The commanding officer agreed to their request to allow the town to re-establish its police force. Officers would mark their vehicles "Police" in English, so Marines could recognize them. They would be allowed to wear uniforms and carry pistols but not Kalashnikov rifles, which they had wanted.
Security around the town would be up to the Marines; security inside would be the responsibility of the police.
The leaders asked for Marines to be posted near the bank to discourage theft.
Belcher refused, explaining his troops were an infantry force not bank guards.
Iraqi Officials Meet in Occupied Town
By RAVI NESSMAN
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NUMANIYAH, IRAQ (AP) -
Nervous and angry, more than a dozen Iraqi officials met Thursday with the top U.S. Marine officer in this Tigris River town to ask for cooperation in re-establishing order a day after U.S. forces captured it.
The complaints came fast and furious: Looters have been targeting government buildings. The electricity has been cut. The hospital's backup generator has failed.
"No police, no government, the essential services are gone now," one of the leaders complained.
All 13 men gathered in the government office agreed: Since Numaniyah fell Wednesday afternoon, the city of about 80,000 has been in chaos.
None of them would give their names, saying they feared retribution for talking to American troops if the Iraqi regime somehow retook the city.
When a Marine demanded they remove a photo of Saddam Hussein from the wall before the meeting, they refused, also out of fear. They told the Marine he was free to take it down, but they could not. He did, and tossed it against a wall with a shatter of glass.
Lt. Col. Michael Belcher, commanding officer of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines, which controls the city, walked in, wearing green camouflage, a flak jacket and helmet.
The Iraqi men, in suits and slacks, sat in chairs arrayed around the office walls. A few smoked, and one clacked his worry beads together.
Through a translator, the men expressed fear that they no longer had a police force. City offices were being looted of furniture and vital government records as Marines watched, they said.
They were anxious that without weapons or police, the bank would be robbed.
"The security of the town is a common concern for both of us," Belcher said. "It is our goal to get the police department up and running."
The commanding officer agreed to their request to allow the town to re-establish its police force. Officers would mark their vehicles "Police" in English, so Marines could recognize them. They would be allowed to wear uniforms and carry pistols but not Kalashnikov rifles, which they had wanted.
Security around the town would be up to the Marines; security inside would be the responsibility of the police.
The leaders asked for Marines to be posted near the bank to discourage theft.
Belcher refused, explaining his troops were an infantry force not bank guards.
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