Iraq: US soldiers sealed off the village where Saddam Hussein was born yesterday and ordered adults to register for identity cards that will allow them to move in and out of the community.
The move came after the New York Times reported that senior US officials believe the former Iraqi leader, who has been on the run since US forces took over Baghdad in April, is playing a major role in co-ordinating attacks against American troops.
"This is an effort to protect the majority of the population, the people who want to get on with their lives," said Lieut Col Steve Russell.
He said he did not know whether Saddam was directing parts of the insurgency, but the village is the home of many former Baathist regime members. "There are ties leading to this village, to the funding and planning of attacks against US soldiers."
American soldiers, Iraqi police and civil defence forces moved into the small dusty village of Uja, nine miles south-east of Tikrit, in the early hours.
Soldiers stretched concertina wire around the perimeter of the village and established checkpoints. Residents over the age of 18 will be required to have registration cards to move in and out of the village.
US officials said on Thursday that a close Saddam confidant, whose daughter is the widow of one of the deposed dictator's sons, is believed to be working with an al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group to co-ordinate attacks in Iraq.
The violence against the occupiers and their Iraqi allies continued yesterday. Iraqi rioters waving Saddam Hussein pictures clashed with US troops and tanks after the Americans tried to clear market stalls from a road on Baghdad's western outskirts. Two civilians were killed and hospital officials said 17 were wounded. A bomb blast killed a US soldier west of the capital and an Iraqi policeman was also reported dead.
In the city of Fallujah, a powerful explosion and fire struck the office of the mayor, who has co-operated with the Americans.
In northern Iraq, meanwhile, American troops sealed off the birthplace of the deposed president Saddam Hussein and began issuing identity cards to the villagers to determine who can move in and out of the village.
Iraqis said the clash at Abu Ghraib, a western suburb of the capital, broke out when US troops tried to clear market stalls from a main road.
The latest violence occurred after the US House of Representatives approved a $38 billion appropriation requested by the administration for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate is expected to follow suit quickly.
The US installed Iraqi Governing Council said it was moving forward with setting up a war crimes tribunal to prosecute those accused of atrocities during Saddam's regime. - (AP)