World Powers Put UN in Iraq's Future; Volunteers Patrol Baghdad Streets

13/04/2003| IslamWeb

Iraqi volunteers helped restore order in ransacked Baghdad, while G-7 countries meeting in Washington welcomed UN Security Council guidance on rebuilding Iraq Seven of the world's richest nations, deeply divided over the occupation, handed a central role to the International Monetary Fund, World Bank and United Nations, without offering specifics.

In Baghdad, the first police cruiser ventured onto the streets since the US-led occupation on Saturday, after a US appeal for volunteers to help restore order, as well as electricity and water to the capital after three weeks of bombing, war and looting.

Chaos still reigned in the capital, four days after US-led forces took it. Most shops were shuttered. Armed shop owners stood guard outside to ward off looters who have stripped government buildings, hotels and even hospitals of vital supplies and equipment.

Jeweler Safar Hussein Hazem said chaos "isn't freedom."

Residents called on US forces to crack down on the looters and warned that Iraqis could turn against the soldiers if they do not.

"If the Americans don't do anything in the coming weeks, we'll drive them out," Hassan Fahed said.

"Iraq is an ancient civilization; the United States is nothing."

Dozens of Iraqis reported to the Palestine Hotel where US officers and media are housed, in response to a US call for qualified people to come forward.

A group of police officers came forward.

The capital has been without water and electricity for days.

Facing criticism for the growing lawlessness, the United States said it would send nearly 1,200 security advisors and judicial experts to Iraq in the coming weeks.

US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged that US troops had an obligation to help provide security but angrily insisted that the extent of the chaos had been exaggerated in media reports.

Brigadier General Vincent Brooks said Saturday that there was no curfew in Iraq, but did not rule it out.

PHOTO CAPTION

Group of Seven (G-7) members, left to right, Canada's Minister of Finance, John Manley; United Kingdom's Finance Minister, Gordon Brown; U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow; German Minister of Finance Hans Eichel; Russian Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin; Itay's Economy Minister Guilio Tremonti; France's Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry Francis Mer and Japanese Minister of Finance Masajuro Shiokawa pose for their G-7 portrait following a working meeting held at the Blair House Saturday, April 12, 2003, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)