Iraq briefs 12/18/03

Rumsfeld considers getting Saddam to talk

WASHINGTON -- Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld sounded intrigued when asked how to get Saddam Hussein talking to his interrogators. "Does he have any interest in his family? ... I don't know," Rumsfeld told reporters Tuesday, ruminating about the possible pressures that could be applied to the former dictator. Fear of dying might, the defense secretary suggested. President Bush said Tuesday he believes Saddam deserves "the ultimate penalty."

Iraqi minister gets no promises of U.N. return

UNITED NATIONS -- Iraq's foreign minister ended a visit to the United Nations with no promise that the world body would return its staff quickly to his country, and he criticized U.N. officials for not doing more to topple Saddam Hussein. Hoshyar Zebari's meeting Tuesday with the U.N. Security Council and Secretary-General Kofi Annan provided the first opportunity for a member of the Iraqi Governing Council to discuss last month's agreement with the U.S.-led coalition to establish a provisional government in June and hold general elections by the end of 2005.

U.S. troops hunt for guerrillas in turbulent city

SAMARRA, Iraq -- U.S. troops blasted down the gates of homes, raising cries of women and children inside, and smashed in doors of workshops and junkyards in a massive raid Wednesday to hunt for pro-Saddam Hussein militants and stamp out the increasingly bold anti-U.S. resistance. The raid, launched before dawn and lasting until mid-morning, targeted the city of Samarra, north of Baghdad, where U.S. officials say some 1,500 fighters operate -- making it one of the persistent hotspots in the so-called "Sunni Triangle."

-- From wire reports