U.S. troops baffled by Iraqi resistance

BAGHDAD, July 8 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The U.S.-led forces in Iraq announced Tuesday, July 8, rewards starting at $2,500 for information leading to the arrest of those behind a spate of attacks on U.S. troops and local police in Iraq, as a new audio tape ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was aired.

"Coalition forces will give a 2,500 dollar-reward to those who give us information leading to the arrest of people responsible for killing or shooting coalition soldiers or Iraqi policemen," Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported according to the newspaper of the "coalition."

"The minimum reward is $2,500 and will be greater for more important information," the Arabic language Al-Sabah said.

Members of the public were invited to call two satellite telephone numbers, printed in the newspaper, with occupation forces promising to treat all information in confidence.

The announcement said people could also directly approach any Iraqi police officer or "coalition soldier" with information and that it would be treated in confidence.

Iraq's telephone system is still barely functioning, nearly three months since the fall of Baghdad to U.S.-led forces.

At least 29 U.S. soldiers have been killed in hostile incidents since President George W. Bush declared major combat over on May 1, while seven Iraqi policemen were killed in a bomb attack at the weekend in Ramadi, west of Baghdad.

The United States has put up separate rewards of $25 million for information leading to the capture of Saddam Hussein and $15 million for each of his sons, Uday and Qusay.

Another Message

Meanwhile, a tape attributed to the toppled Iraqi president and broadcast Tuesday by Aljazeera called on Iraqis to unite and throw out the occupying U.S.-led forces from their country.

The voice on the tape, which could not immediately be verified, told "Arabs, Kurds, Turkmens, Shiites, Sunnis, Muslims and Christians" that "your principal mission is to throw out the invaders by uniting your ranks."

The speaker on the 14-minute tape said it had been recorded "inside Iraq", adding that "undercover action" was the best way to ensure the departure of the U.S. and British troops from Iraq.

"The glorious Iraqi people will never agree to welcome the armies of the invaders," he said. "The Iraqis are all brothers, they are one people. The invaders came in the hope of being welcomed as liberators but their hopes have been dashed."

It was the second broadcast message in four days to be attributed to Saddam. The earlier one, put out Friday by Aljazeera television, was deemed to be probably authentic by experts of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.