U.S. Marines handed over control of Baghdad to the Army on Sunday and pulled out toward southern Iraq, a sign of increasing military stability in a country whose political future remains uncertain.
Tensions eased between the U.S. and Syria, and in northern Iraq, commanders of an Iraqi unit that evaporated as allied forces advanced reappeared and began surrendering to Americans.
Two more Iraqis on the U.S. most-wanted list reportedly were in custody. One of them was Hussein’s son-in-law, Jamal Mustafa Abdallah Sultan al-Tikriti, who returned from Syria to turn himself in to the U.S.-backed Iraqi National Congress opposition group in Baghdad, a congress spokesman said in London.
The other, the former higher education and scientific research minister, Abd al-Khaliq Abd al-Ghafar, was arrested by allied troops Saturday.
Al-Tikriti was the nine of clubs in the U.S. military’s deck of cards listing the most-wanted Iraqis, and al-Ghafar was the four of hearts. Seven of the 55 most-wanted are now in custody, and an eighth, Ali Hassan Majid, known as Chemical Ali, is believed to be dead.
Yet there still was no sign of Hussein. President Bush, who attended Easter services and met with two of the released American prisoners of war at Ft. Hood, Texas, did not say whether he believed Hussein had survived.
“If he is alive,” Bush said firmly, “I would suggest he not pop his head up.”
Though it was not known whether al-Tikriti had been pressured by Syria to surrender, Bush said Damascus was beginning to heed American warnings to cooperate. Syria has denied protecting Iraqi leaders.
“They’re getting the message that they should not harbor Baath Party officials, high-ranking Iraqi officials,” Bush said, ratcheting down earlier rhetoric by the administration that fueled speculation that Syria could be the next target of the U.S. military.
Two U.S. congressmen who met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus said he assured them that he would not give asylum to Iraqis wanted for war crimes. Reps. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) said Assad appeared eager to address the U.S. concerns.
Secretary of State Colin Powell plans a trip to the Middle East soon that would include a stop in Syria.
“I’m confident the Syrian government has heard us,” Bush said. “I believe it when they say they want to cooperate with us.”
One of the more mystifying chapters of the war began to close in northern Iraq as some of the last Iraqi officers to offer organized resistance began trickling in to the American headquarters in Mosul.
Ten generals and more than 50 other officers from Iraq’s 5th Corps, a regular-army unit that defended Mosul, turned themselves in Saturday and Sunday to American troops at the city’s civilian airport.
The Iraqis, all clad in civilian clothes, arrived in private cars and taxis and were seen sitting with their U.S. counterparts at tables set up under some trees inside a compound ringed by razor wire. American officers said their names were being checked against those on watch lists for war criminals.
“TV is what brought them in,” said Lt. Col. Robert Waltemeyer, the U.S. commander on the scene. After capturing a local television station, the U.S. military began broadcasting calls for a general surrender, he explained.
The fate of the 5th Corps, about 40,000 men who made up as much as 20 percent of Iraq’s regular army, has been a mystery since April 10, when the commander failed to show up at a lonely crossroads to surrender.
Instead of a peaceful transition to U.S. military rule, the 5th Corps simply crumbled, opening up a ruinous power vacuum in Mosul. The days of violence and looting that followed poisoned relations between U.S. troops and resentful civilians.
“It’s still a mystery to me why they just melted away,” Waltemeyer said.
Until their disappearance, the 5th Corps appeared to be fighting to the end, battling on after scenes of crowds rejoicing in the streets of U.S.-occupied Baghdad were broadcast around the world.
Most of the 5th Corps soldiers, including some Republican Guard units, are thought to be lying low, mixing with the civilian population in Mosul.
The surrendering Iraqi officers have guided American soldiers to enormous weapons stocks, including surface-to-air missiles.
To the south in Baghdad, Marines completed their pullout toward southern Iraq and left the capital in the U.S. Army’s control. Military officials would not say how many U.S. troops remained in Baghdad.
With a smaller American garrison in the capital, soldiers met with community leaders to discuss security concerns and announced a curfew from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Facing potential food shortages, the military opened a warehouse to UN aid shipments. Workers struggled to restore power and water.
Despite the Marine pullout, it is not clear how long U.S. troops will remain in Iraq. Sen. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said it could take as long as five years to establish a functioning democracy. “There’s not much to work with at this point,” he said.
Jay Garner, the retired lieutenant general tapped to lead the interim Iraqi administration, was scheduled to arrive Monday in Baghdad.
Mohammed Mohsen al-Zubaidi, a recently returned exile who has proclaimed himself mayor of Baghdad, said he had formed a municipal government. He promised to arrest and try anyone whose “hands are stained with the blood of the Iraqi people” under a new constitution based on Islamic law.
Another prominent exile expected to take a role in rebuilding Iraq, Ahmed Chalabi, told ABC-TV’s “This Week” on Sunday that he does not envision an Islamic theocracy.
“There is a role for Islamic religious parties,” said Chalabi, head of the Iraqi National Congress. “But they are not going to be forcing any agenda or . . . a theocracy on the Iraqi people.”
In another sign of change in Iraq, hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims marched toward the holy cities of Karbala and Najaf on a pilgrimage long suppressed by Hussein’s Sunni-dominated government.
Millions are expected to converge on the cities this week. For many of those in their 20s and 30s, it was their first time on the pilgrimage.
But fears remain that religious rivalries will erupt anew. A leading bishop in Baghdad called for constitutional protections for the country’s Christian minority. “Please tell Mr. Bush, `I am asking you in the name of all bishops to give us a good constitution,'” Rev. Emmanuel Delly said.
In Texas, Bush declined to say when he planned to declare victory in the war. He warned that significant struggles lie ahead as the country rebuilds.
“Saddam Hussein is no longer in power, that’s for certain,” Bush said, standing outside one of the many churches on the sprawling, 340-square-mile Army base. “The Iraqi people’s lives will be much better off.”
Bush left his central Texas ranch for the first time in four days Sunday and traveled by helicopter with his wife and parents to nearby Ft. Hood. They worshiped with Chief Warrant Officers David Williams of Orlando and Ronald Young Jr. of Lithia Springs, Ga., the helicopter pilots rescued by American forces only a week ago.
“We prayed for peace and for strength, for the many blessings,” the president said. “I am particularly grateful that these two men were with us today.”
Five other former POWs spent a quiet Sunday with families at Ft. Bliss, Texas. They are scheduled for more medical and psychological tests expected to last several days.
The former POWs will be debriefed in the next week, officials said. The six men and one woman will then get leave and be free to decide whether they want to return to the military.
Many of their former comrades celebrated Easter in the Middle East. In Baghdad, members of the 101st Airborne Division read from camouflage-bound Bibles. Army officers attending mass at an Iraqi cathedral in Kirkuk were greeted with hugs and candy.
“This is wonderful,” said Capt. Tom Roughneed. “I’ve dreamed of an assignment like this.”
