IRAQ: Gen Jasim Mohamed Saleh, a former general in Saddam Hussein's army, was not in charge of Falluja and was still being vetted for a possible peacekeeping role, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday.
"The reporting to date has been . . . very, very inaccurate," Gen Richard Myers told Fox Television's Fox News Sunday. "We've gotten a lot of help from tribal sheikhs and other folks."
Gen Saleh and another general were being vetted; ". . . they have not been put in charge," Gen Myers said.
However, ". . . we think we are very close to having Iraqis help achieve our objectives in Falluja", he said.
Gen Saleh himself played down his position in Saddam's Baath party and said he left the Republican Guard before becoming an infantry general.
Earlier yesterday, Gen Saleh said there were no foreign fighters in Falluja, despite US insistence about 200 of them were hiding in the city.
Gen Saleh, speaking to Reuters, also said he had yet to receive information on the men wanted for the murder and mutilation of four American contractors which sparked the siege.
US forces turned to Gen Saleh having failed to root out insurgents they estimate at up to 2,000 of the city's population of 300,000. The city is among the most loyal to Saddam.
The US authorities have demanded people in Falluja hand over the 200 foreign fighters.
Gen Saleh, who is being assisted by another former general, said he represented the old Iraqi army, not the old regime.
Falluja residents had asked him to maintain security and stability in the city which he comes from, he said.
After overthrowing Saddam's regime last year, US-led authorities in Iraq set about jailing or sacking members of his ruling Baath party.
Now they are looking to bring back senior officers untainted by the excesses of the Saddam regime to command a new army.
"The return of the Baathists is a peaceful solution and there are a large number of them who are loyal to the country, capable of administering the country in times of crisis," Gen Saleh said.
Baathists who had committed crimes should not be allowed to return to government or the army, he said. But throwing soldiers out of work by disbanding the 350,00-strong Iraqi armed helped stoke resistance to the US forces in Falluja, he said.
"The reasons for the resistance go back to the American provocations, the raids and abolishing the army which made Iraqis join the resistance."
US forces are pulling back from the outskirts of the city, but remain around it and say they will give Gen Saleh a few days to restore order.
Gen Saleh said his force now numbered 1,200 and was growing every day.
"There is co-operation from Falluja's residents for our presence and our forces have spread with the police to the areas where Americans forces have withdrawn.
"By the end of the day, the Americans will have fully retreated from the northern and western sides of Falluja," he said.
Cries of "victory over the Americans" echoed from minarets. Thousands of residents who had fled a month of heavy fighting have begun to stream back to their homes. Doctors say some 600 people died in the siege. - (Reuters)