Iraq

New Iraqi army will be one-tenth Hussein's force

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The American and British occupation authority said Monday it would create an Iraqi army of 40,000 soldiers, one-tenth the size of Saddam Hussein's armed forces at their peak, within three years.

Walter Slocombe, a senior American official, said an initial force of 12,000 would be formed within a year. It would operate without an air force and would be responsible for guarding the country's borders and key installations.

The occupation powers also agreed on Monday to pay the salaries of up to 250,000 idled Iraqi army officers. This follows weeks of angry demonstrations that culminated in the shooting death of two Iraqi officers during a rally last Wednesday.

The announcement appeared timed to avert another confrontation and to respond to the concerns of Iraqi political figures and American officers to have the coalition address the officers demands so as not to drive them into resistance against the occupation forces.

The size of Iraq's first postwar military seemed to reflect the reality that a large contingent of U.S. and British troops will be positioned in Iraq for some time as the guarantor of security in the region.

Slocombe said the new Iraqi military would theoretically be able to defend the country from invasion.

At the height of his power, Hussein boasted an army of more than 20 divisions and 400,000 soldiers, 2,600 tanks and an air force of more than 300 fighters and bombers.

"This country was grotesquely overmilitarized," Slocombe said, adding "most people in the old army will not be able to continue their military careers." For a while, at least, they still will be paid, and at more than their former wages. As many as 250,000 former Iraqi servicemen will be eligible for monthly stipends of between $50 and $150. In return, they will be required to sign statements renouncing the Baath Party.

Slocombe, a former undersecretary of defense in the Clinton administration who is overseeing the dissolution of Hussein's armed forces, said applications for the army would be accepted starting next week with a goal of fielding the first "light infantry" division of 12,000 soldiers in a year's time.

WASHINGTON - U.S. Special Forces shot several Syrian border guards during a firefight that broke out as the Americans chased a convoy of suspected Iraqi fugitives.

Many news organizations have earlier reported that intelligence indicated senior Iraqi leaders, and perhaps Saddam Hussein, were in the convoy.

An undisclosed number of people were killed, wounded or captured in the attack against the convoy and the resulting border shootout in far western Iraq, Pentagon officials said Monday.

A senior defense official said five Syrians were hurt, three of whom were treated by U.S. forces, the Associated Press reported. The official would not say on which side of the Iraq-Syria border the clash occurred.

Officials released few details about the incident, which happened Wednesday.

Working partly on information from previously captured Iraqis, special operations soldiers attacked the convoy.

About 20 people in the convoy were apprehended by the American troops, and most were released after it was determined they did not pose a threat, the senior defense official said.

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