A rchive Date
[ 28-04-2003 ]
Category
[ International Relations ]
sub-Categoy
[ Iraq ]
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[http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/World/2003/04/27/74560-ap.html
Self-proclaimed mayor of Baghdad arrested
By NIKO PRICE
Sun, April 27, 2003
BAGHDAD (AP) - An Iraqi exile who had proclaimed himself Baghdad's mayor and begun issuing directives to city workers was arrested Sunday by U.S. forces, who accused him of exerting authority he didn't have.
Mohammed Mohsen al-Zubaidi was arrested at 5 p.m. in downtown Baghdad "for his inability to support the coalition military authority and for exercising authority which was not his," U.S. military spokesman Capt. David Connolly said in Baghdad. Soldiers arrested seven others found with al-Zubaidi, Connolly said, without identifying them. Five were released a short time later, U.S. Central Command said.
"Al-Zubaidi was detained and then removed from Baghdad to prevent his continued misrepresentation of his authority as the mayor of Baghdad," the command said in a statement.
Al-Zubaidi, who has cast himself as a volunteer to help Iraq get back on its feet, never discouraged widespread rumours that he was appointed by U.S. military authorities. American forces, however, have become increasingly adamant in recent days that they have no relationship with him.
"He was misrepresenting himself as mayor, a position which he was not appointed to," Connolly said. Al-Zubaidi has been associated in the past with Ahmad Chalabi, a leader of the Iraqi National Congress, a London-based exile group.
Hours before the arrest Sunday, U.S. forces interrupted an interview that al-Zubaidi was doing with several television networks, in which he said: "Our role will end once there is a conference to elect a transitional government."
Al-Zubaidi's bodyguards evicted the journalists while al-Zubaidi met with the Americans. When they emerged, supporters lifted a beaming al-Zubaidi on their shoulders and chanted "Yes, yes, al-Zubaidi." The exile appeared more subdued after the encounter with U.S. forces, however, saying: "We don't have any goal to be political leaders. We just want to fill the gap left by the dictator."
Al-Zubaidi, unknown in Baghdad before Saddam Hussein's regime fell earlier this month, suddenly proclaimed himself mayor, saying Iraqi Gen. Jawdat al-Obeidi - who had spent recent years as a limousine driver in Portland, Ore. - was his deputy. The men set up shop at the Sheraton Hotel and opened offices in a country club next door, the Aluwiyah Club.
There, thousands of government workers have filled out forms to re-register for their jobs, believing al-Zubaidi was in charge. Many said they assumed he had been appointed by the Americans. Connolly accused al-Zubaidi of writing letters to utility plants, ordering them to await his instructions before restarting operations and firing some employees of the government electricity company who were returning to work.
Also Sunday, Lt. Gen. Hossam Mohammed Amin, chief Iraqi liaison with UN weapons inspectors, was in custody in Baghdad, U.S. officers said. The general was among the key figures in Saddam's weapons programs and would have detailed knowledge of any illegal armaments, if Iraq still possesses them.
Although normalcy was slowly returning to Baghdad, an ambush Sunday which wounded four U.S. soldiers underscored the existing threats. The four were conducting a public-health assessment when their Humvees were attacked by an assailant firing a small-calibre weapon.
Last week, the Americans began to threaten al-Zubaidi with arrest if he tried to assert authority in Baghdad, which is occupied by U.S. forces, who have said retired Lt. Gen. Jay Garner will oversee reconstruction efforts.
Lt. Col. Alan King, commander of the U.S. battalion in charge of restoring operations in Baghdad, said Wednesday he had seen reports al-Zubaidi was distributing weapons and uniforms to followers. "Anyone in uniform working with al-Zubaidi will be arrested as a combatant. The only people in Baghdad allowed to wear a uniform . . . is who we authorize," King said.
Al-Zubaidi, he said, "is running Baghdad as much as Saddam Hussein is."
 World Fact Book (CIA)]
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