US troops shoot to kill at market in Tikrit

IRAQ: Two suspected Iraqi arms dealers and several innocent bystanders were shot to death yesterday by US troops at an open market in the town of Tikrit, an hour's drive north of the capital.

According to Iraqi reports, the slain civilians included a woman and child.

The shootings took place as the weapons merchants opened the boot of their car and began to unpack their wares - assault rifles, ammunition clips and bomb making equipment.

US troops have adopted a shoot-to-kill policy for dealing with all Iraqis carrying illegal arms and have warned parents that children should not go into the streets with toy guns.

As far as Iraqis are concerned, the unprovoked firing showed that the softer line proclaimed by Lt Gen Ricardo Sanchez, commander of the occupation forces, was either not yet operative or had not been communicated to officers and troops on the ground.

Lt Gen Sanchez said that the military would be limiting the number and scope of sweeps in civilian areas. He has been warned by Iraqi political figures that these raids were alienating the public. In mid-July US forces conducted 143 raids in the central and northern provinces of the country and seized 700 loyalists of the former regime, 64 of whom - less than ten per cent - were, in his estimation, "high value targets".

The downside of this campaign is that innocent Iraqi civilians are being killed, wounded and affronted and their property is being damaged during many of these raids. The most striking example was the recent killing of five Iraqis during a US special forces raid on a house in the western Mansur district of the capital.

The re-assessment of US strategy for rounding up violent opposition elements and capturing key figures from the ousted regime may have come too late.

Thursday's car bomb attack on the Jordanian embassy, which killed 17 civilians, and a well planned ambush on a US patrol vehicle on a commercial street in Baghdad indicate that Iraqi resistance cells are improving their targeting capabilities. A US trooper was also shot and killed Thursday night in Baghdad, boosting the number since May 1st to 57.

US officials have suggested the embassy bombing may have been the work of al Qaeda, the Islamist network held responsible for the 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

While most of these attacks are believed to be mounted by supporters of the ousted regime, Islamic militants, and criminals, others are almost certainly staged by Iraqis seeking revenge against US troops for harsh and humiliating treatment.

A US raid on an Iraqi home often involves kicking down the front door, pointing weapons on an entire family, a destructive search of the premises and placing bags over the heads of menfolk before taking them away for interrogation. In some cases, Iraqis do not discover where their loved ones are being detained for many days or weeks.

Lt Gen Sanchez said that his forces are adopting a more measured approach to security, relying on co-operation with local and tribal leaders, clerics and political figures and depending on the public for information on wanted members of the toppled regime and the resistance.

This policy line has been endorsed by the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, who said, on one hand, that US forces in Iraq should "stand back a little and rely on local forces".The Iraqi police, only 30,000 strong in Baghdad, a city of five million, cannot assume the burden of providing security for Iraqis, foreigners and US troops.

On the other hand, Mr Powell seemed to be sending conflicting signals when he said that the military would "use whatever techniques appropriate," apparently endorsing the sort of aggressive action taken yesterday by the troops in Tikrit.