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Saturday, April 12, 2003

By Ravi Nessman, The Associated Press

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- A directive read by an officer and attributed to Gen. Tommy Franks says Saddam Hussein's regime has ended and instructs U.S. troops to ensure that public services and religious institutions continue to operate in the Iraqi capital.

A U.S. Marine negotiates the price of two packs of cigarettes with a shopkeeper during a patrol through a neighborhood in Baghdad yesterday. The Marines were told to shop at some of the stores that were open in order to begin building relations with civilians and to help lower tension levels in the city. This patrol was from Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 7th Marines. (Julie Jacobson, Associated Press)

The directive was read yesterday to unit commanders by an officer who said it came from Franks, the U.S. general leading the war against Iraq. It came as U.S. troops faced the daunting task of restoring public order in this city of 5 million people after U.S. forces seized control of the Iraqi capital this week.

The directive said Saddam's rule in the capital had ended and that U.S. forces would remain in Iraq until the establishment of a free government.

At Central Command forward headquarters in Doha, Qatar, spokesman Jim Wilkinson said Franks had not issued a statement as The Associated Press reported earlier. "News reports that General Tommy Franks issued a statement to the troops today concerning the Iraqi regime, rules of engagement and the status of the war are not correct," Wilkinson said. "General Franks has not issued such a statement."

However, two Associated Press reporters heard a summary of the directive.

Franks himself returned to Afghanistan yesterday with a special envoy to assure the government and international troops that the United States can fight two wars at once.

The directive attributed to Franks underscored that U.S. forces had to respect Iraqi culture of the Muslim faith and seek to promote a return to normalcy in Baghdad and other major cities, where looting and other disorder have broken out since the collapse of the former regime. It also stated that:

Government employees should continue to go to work

Religious centers should remain open

Schools should reopen and attendance should be taken

Police, firemen and emergency services should operate normally

Hospitals should stay open

Businesses and shops should operate

Detainees will be treated humanely

Stamps issued by the former government to Iraqis for food and medicine will be considered valid.

The directive said the Iraqi people must not threaten coalition forces, must avoid hostile acts against other Iraqis, refrain from looting and terrorist actions and avoid public displays of weapons. But Iraqis could keep personal weapons at home, the directive said.

U.S. officers said the directive did not stipulate how troops were supposed to curb looting. But they said current rules prevent troops from using deadly force.

With world attention focused on Iraq, Franks -- speaking at U.S. military headquarters at Bagram Air Base -- said U.S. forces remained committed to Afghanistan and to capturing al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden, who may be hiding there.

"It's part of the global war on terrorism," Franks said. "It is important to my nation, and it will remain important to my nation."

Zalmay Khalilzad, President Bush's special representative to Afghanistan and Iraq, also brought a message of reassurance to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is struggling to establish the supremacy of his government over a nation of factions and warlords.

"We will not turn our face from Afghanistan," Khalilzad said in the capital, Kabul. "We will remain committed to the reconstruction and stability in Afghanistan."

Khalilzad said Afghanistan's multiethnic government may be a model for postwar Iraq, where a transitional government will face the delicate task of representing all segments of the society, including the Iraqi Kurds.

Although U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban government in October 2001, thousands of American troops remain in Afghanistan to hunt down al-Qaida and Taliban fugitives who continue to target international forces.

Franks made his first visit to Afghanistan this year, after leading a successful three-week charge into Baghdad. At Bagram, he told hundreds of soldiers representing 23 countries that they were part of "the largest coalition ever built in the history of the world."

He said the number of countries working with the United States in Afghanistan was larger than when the U.S.-led war began. Fifty-three countries were working alongside U.S. forces worldwide in its war against terrorism, he said.

Associated Press staff writer D'Arcy Doran contributed to this report from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.