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US to send 1000-man team to look for WMD

Iraq's neighbouring states reject US threats against Syria; Baghdad shakes with protest against American presence

STAR DESK
Washington is going to deploy a 1,000-strong force to hunt for Saddam Hussein's alleged banned arms to justify the US-led invasion of Iraq.
US defence officials, quoted by CNN, said the "Iraq Survey Group" would probably be led by a general and consist of military personnel, government intelligence analysts, civilian scientists and private contractors.
Initial elements of the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) team are
already on the ground in Iraq and the full contingent should be operational within two weeks, CNN quoted a Pentagon official as saying Thursday.
The survey team will focus on putting a larger number of personnel into Iraq to conduct a more organised
search for WMDs based on intelligence leads, the network said.
This latest effort to locate the elusive WMDs, said CNN, underscores the growing Pentagon view that Washington no longer expects
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to find them on its own, but will have to offer rewards to Iraqis to draw out information on where to look.
The report was in line with statements earlier by Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld at the Pentagon.
"It is not like a treasure hunt," he said. "The (United Nations weapons) inspectors didn't find anything, and I doubt that we ill. What we will do is find the people who will tell us."
Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix said his inspectors could give credibility to any discovery of banned weapons made by US or British troops.
American marines expect to vacate the Iraqi capital no later than April 22 when the US army will move in and secure control of the city, said military sources yesterday.
A 30,000-strong taskforce from the Fourth Infantry Division is expected to flow into Iraq from Kuwait over the coming days.
IRAQ's NEIGHBOURS MEET
Stunned by the swift US-led takeover of Iraq, neighbouring states gathered in Saudi Arabia yesterday to weigh a response as a diplomatic row brewed between Washington and the United Nations over economic sanctions.
Opening the conference, Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal of host
Saudi Arabia said: "We categorically reject the recent threats against Syria," which was present at the meeting.
He said US threats against Syria "will only lead to a new cycle of trouble and violence in the region."
"We call on the United States to opt for dialogue with Syria," Prince Saud told the participants before they headed into closed-door talks.
The regional meeting in Riyadh, the first such forum on postwar Iraq, was being attended by foreign ministers from Turkey, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Kuwait, Egypt and Bahrain.
None of these countries was on good terms with Iraq during Saddam's rule, but with a political vacuum opening at the heart of the volatile region, all want a say in what comes next.
The meeting reflected regional concerns that Washington intended to stamp its indelible print on a post-war Iraq and dominate the transition process to a democratic regime.
DEMONSTRATION
Thousands of Iraqis demonstrated against the US occupation of Iraq yesterday, the second Muslim day of prayers since the regime's collapse.
At morning prayers, Sheik Ahmed al-Kubeisy rejected the troops' "occupation" and said American soldiers should leave the country soon, before
Iraqis expel them, Arab news channel Al-Jazeera reported.
In the centre of the city, the Ministry of Information was in flames, apparently ignited by looters. Soldiers surrounded the ten-storey building as looters tried to carry away a few last prizes. A recording played over army loudspeakers, warning people in Arabic to leave the area "immediately or there will be consequences".
Elsewhere, a contingent of five marines was guarding a looted laboratory near the Ministry of Health for a third day yesterday; they said they have been told anyone who enters could catch diseases because of broken bottles. A sign in Arabic warned, "Danger, Danger Keep Out. The ground is infected with HIV, cholera, polio and other diseases."
Also Friday, opposition leader Ahmad Chalabi and his Iraqi National Congress followers set up makeshift headquarters at two neighbouring social clubs in the affluent Mansour district, guarded by US armoured vehicles and elements of the new Free Iraqi forces. Ousted President Saddam Hussein's sons, Oday and Qusai, once belonged to the clubs.
WAR PRISONERS FREED
Coalition forces released more than 900 Iraqi prisoners, beginning the process of sorting through the
thousands detained in the month-old war, a US defence official said yesterday.
Those released were determined to be noncombatants, he said, meaning they did not engage in hostile acts during the war and were not part of a military force.
Taking into account the release, coalition forces now hold 6,850 prisoners who were on the battlefield, he said.
OTHER DEVELOPMENTS
North of Baghdad, US troops attacked an airfield after an unmanned surveillance plane captured images of paramilitary fighters who appeared to be loading ammunition into pickups, intelligence officers said.
US troops found about 1,500 unmarked graves in the northern city of Kirkuk, but it was not immediately clear whose corpses they held.
Interpol announced yesterday it is sending a special team to Iraq to help track down pillaged art treasures. FBI agents also have been sent to Iraq to help recover the stolen antiquities.
The State Department is recruiting police officers to help restore order in Iraq. There are about 150 openings in the short term, but the State Department says 1,000 more slots will open.