Iraqi insurgents confirmed US and British government fears that the arrest of Saddam could galvanise them by mounting two attacks on Monday on police stations, killing eight and injuring 22.
The attacks came as the Ministry of Defence announced that a further 500 soldiers are to be sent out to reinforce British forces in Iraq.
The fatal explosion occurred at Husseiniya, north of Baghdad, when a suicide bomber sped through a fence protecting a police station in a four-wheel drive packed with explosives. It hit another car and detonated after guards opened fire. Six policemen were killed, as well as the driver; about 20 people were wounded.
In the second attack, a car bomb exploded at Amirya in Baghdad, injuring seven policemen and four others. The driver is also believed to have been killed.
A police officer, Mohamed Hashim, told Reuters: ”We were standing outside the police station when a very fast car came. We shouted to try and stop him but he detonated the car.”
Another car followed behind, with a gunman opening fire. He apparently fled when police opened fire. A man was later arrested.
Iraqi insurgents have recently coordinated their attacks, switching the emphasis from US forces to the newly recruited Iraqi policemen.
The capture of Saddam will not necessarily dent the operational effectiveness of the insurgents. No satellite phone or other form of communication was found at Saddam’s hideaway.
Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, a long-time ally of Saddam, alleged by the US to be coordinating the insurgents, is still at large. But it may be that, like Saddam, he is focused on his own survival and his role is being exaggerated.
Contrary to reports from separate sources, US officers claimed that Saddam’s arrest was already helping to provide details of at least one underground cell and the arrest of several insurgents.
The information was alleged to have been provided directly by Saddam and from documents in his briefcase.
”It has led to the capture of two important men,” Captain Jason Beck of the US 1st Armoured Division told Reuters. He said one of the men was a senior figure associated with the toppled Iraqi leader.
Tony Blair, reflecting the concern amid the euphoria of Saddam’s capture, yesterday cautioned: ”The terrorists and Saddam’s sympathisers will continue and, though small in number and in support, their terrorist tactics will still require vigilance, dedication and determination.”
Sir Jeremy Greenstock, Blair’s Iraq envoy, echoed this: ”In some ways we think the violence could well go up as a matter of retaliation and resentment at the success of the capture. But we hope that will be reasonably shortlived and gradually over the early months of next year, some of the violence will go down.”
Britain is patrolling in areas that are almost exclusively Shia Muslim. They were victimised by Saddam and have so far taken a benign approach to the occupation. But British intelligence has warned this may not last.
The defence secretary, Geoff Hoon, told the Commons that 500 fresh troops are being sent to Iraq, bringing the total number of UK forces there to about 10 000.
The troops, from the First Battalion, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, and two platoons of the Royal Military Police, are to be deployed in the new year and will stay for six months.
Hoon suggested their main task would be to step up the training of Iraqi security forces.
”Although in recent weeks there has been a decline in the number of security incidents in Iraq, following a peak in November, the security situation remains challenging,” he told MPs.
British military commanders, based in Basra, have prided themselves on their record of maintaining law and order in cooperation with Iraqis in the Shia south.
Local leaders there appear to be playing a waiting game, ready to exploit the Shia majority in Iraq when an election timetable is agreed. – Guardian Unlimited Â