US forces captured another Iraqi on the 55 most-wanted list in an overnight raid near Tikrit during which more than 200 people were briefly detained, a US officer on the scene told AFP.
Major Michael Silverman, from the 1st Brigade of the army's 4th Infantry Division, would not identify the most-wanted Iraqi, but local residents and officials said it was Abdel Baqi al-Karim Abdullah. Abdullah, the five of diamonds in the US pack of cards of wanted Iraqis, was the Baath party leader in Diyala province.
Local residents expressed fury at the overnight raid in the area.
Meanwhile, the British army handed civil authority over the border town of Umm Qasr to Iraqis on a municipal council. However, troops remained in charge of security around the town.
"We are transferring the civil authority to the town council," said British commander Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Jones as he shook hands with the council chairman Najim Abed Mehdi.
"We are very glad to have them as guests," said Abed Mehdi. "The handover from 23 Pioneer Regiment to the Umm Qasr town council is symbolic as it is the first town to be handed over in the British area of military responsibility," Jones said.
The volunteer council has 50 representatives, including low-ranking former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party, and is the first to take over from British troops who occupy southern Iraq.
"We know who are the good people and who are the bad people," said the chairman, a retired English teacher who was the first to come foward and offer to help the British. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
