Iraqi mosque preachers sought to calm tensions with US troops today and demanded that the United States establish a government to restore order after President George W. Bush declared the war all but over.
While grappling with postwar chaos, the US military said it was holding two more of deposed President Saddam Hussein's top aides, including one who helped direct his weapons programmes.
It named him as Abdul Tawab Mullah Hwaish, head of the military industrialisation ministry, which oversaw the development of weapons of mass destruction in the 1980s.
Hwaish was No. 16 on the US list of 55 most wanted Iraqis. He was taken into custody on Thursday, along with Taha Mohieddin Ma'rouf, an Iraqi vice president and member of Saddam's Revolutionary Command Council, and No. 42 on the list.
The continuing hunt for Saddam and his inner circle is one reason why Bush has stopped short of formally ending the war ostensibly fought to rid Iraq of banned weapons, whose existence Saddam denied. US and British forces have yet to find any.
Many Iraqis are happy at Saddam's removal but have made clear they want US troops to leave as soon as possible.