Iraq Notebook
Leader says Belarus wary of U.S. attack

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MINSK, Belarus — President Alexander Lukashenko said yesterday that Belarus must be prepared to defend itself against U.S. attack.

Lukashenko, once called Europe's last dictator by U.S. officials, has criticized the invasion of Iraq, saying it had created a precedent whereby undesirable leaders could be unseated with military force.

"Belarus has to be vigilant and pay particular attention to strengthening its fighting efficiency," he said. "The world has returned to times when war and brute force were real instruments of foreign policy.

"The United States declared its particular right to use military force towards countries that dare to implement independent foreign and internal policies."

Lukashenko pledged to increase military spending next year in the impoverished nation of 10 million.

"We are not going to do any saber-rattling," he said. "We are not going to threaten anybody. We are talking only about defending our motherland."

Pro-U.S. Sunni Muslim leader gunned down along with son

MOSUL, Iraq — Gunmen yesterday assassinated a Sunni Muslim tribal leader who backed the U.S.-led occupation in the northern town of Mosul, as guerrillas continued to target Iraqi police and other officials who cooperate with the American-led authorities.

Gunmen in a speeding car shot and killed Sheik Talal al-Khalidi and his son Saad Talal, 23, said another son, Khalid, who witnessed the attack. Al-Khalidi, 57, was a member of the loyalist National Assembly under Saddam who joined a new local governing council that works with U.S. troops. He led the Beni Khalid tribe, which also has members in Jordan, Qatar and Syria.

Shiites attack Saddam statue in Baghdad slum to show anger

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Hundreds of Shiite Muslims stoned a bronze bust of Saddam Hussein yesterday in Baghdad's al-Sadr slum. Previously called Saddam City, it is home to about 2 million of Iraq's majority sect who had been cruelly repressed during Saddam's regime.

"Iraqis want to show their rejection and contempt of Saddam. ... Today, Saddam was tried and punished symbolically," Shiekh Qassim Ahmed said at the scene.

Army says sweep captured 21 Saddam associates, arms

BAGHDAD, Iraq — The U.S. Army said yesterday that it had captured 21 "significant" associates of Saddam Hussein in the previous 24 hours in the capital. Those detained include "known bomb-makers," insurgent-cell leaders and senior planners, it said.

Troops have seized 60 122-mm rockets, bomb-making materials and, in the town of Ramadi, three surface-to-air missiles that presumably could be used to bring down helicopters or other aircraft.

In addition, troops from the Army's 1st Armored Division captured five men they suspect fired rockets into the central Baghdad headquarters of the U.S. occupation authority late Christmas night. The blasts caused neither injury nor damage but jolted the vast compound and underlined its vulnerability.

Japan's military vanguard clad in civilian garb on way to Iraq

NARITA, Japan — Reflecting the government's assurances that its forces will not become involved in combat, the airmen who left Japan for the Middle East yesterday wore blazers and sweat shirts rather than military uniforms.

In front of a horde of reporters at Tokyo's main international airport, 23 Japanese air force personnel filed onto commercial flights bound for Kuwait and Qatar.

The group will prepare for the deployment of about 1,000 noncombat personnel in Iraq, an unprecedented operation by the country's post-World War II military.

They were the first wave of the largest and potentially most dangerous overseas deployment by Japan's military since World War II. Army, navy and air-force units are scheduled to help repair infrastructure in southern Iraq.

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi says the deployment will strengthen Japan's 43-year alliance with the United States.

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