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Iraqi police arrest Baath leader listed No. 41 among fugitives Abdul Razaq’s capture leaves only 10 “deck of cards” figures at large BY LEE'KEATH THE ASSOCIATED PRESS BAGHDAD, IRAQ — A special Iraqi police unit arrested a senior Baath Party leader on the U.S. mil itary’s most-wanted list during a raid Sunday on his home in a Baghdad suburb. The capture of Mohammed Zimam Abdul Razaq leaves only 10 top figures still at large from the list of 55 issued after the Saddam Hussein regime fell. Abdul Razaq was No. 41 and the four of spades in the military’s “deck of cards” of top fugitives. Deputy Interior Minister Ahmed Kadhum Ibrahim touted the arrest as evidence that'the still-rebuilding Iraqi police force “can be depended upon in the fight against terrorism” — looking to give his troops a boost a day after police in the turbulent city of Fallujah were overwhelmed by dozens of gunmen in one of the best organized guerrilla attacks yet. - U.S. officials gave conflicting re ports Sunday on whether foreign fighters or Saddam loyalists car ried out the bold, daytime assault on the Fallujah police station. At least 25 people, mostly po lice, were killed in the raid; more than 30 people were wounded; and the attackers freed dozens of pris oners at the station. The'assault raised questions about whether Iraqi security forces are ready to take the front line against the in surgency when the United States hands over power to the Iraqis on June 30. Abdul Razaq headed Saddam’s Baath Party in the northern provinces of Nineveh and Tamim, which include the cities of Mosul and Kirkuk. He earlier served as interior minister, and Ibrahim said he kept a “personal prison” behind the police academy where “innocent people” were held in dog cages. Abdul Razaq was presented to reporters at the Interior Ministry. He was then handed over to the U.S.-led coalition, Ibrahim said at a press conference later. Police caught Abdul Razaq’s trail when they were tipped off that his son was trying to obtain weapons and fake passports, Ibrahim said. Police watched the elder Abdul Razaq for 10 days before the spe cial operations unit — trained by U.S. experts — moved in on his house in the Baghdad suburb of Saydiya on Sunday afternoon and found him on the second floor, Ibrahim said. Abdul Razaq offered no resistance. - Ibrahim called on the highest ranking figure still at large from the U.S. list,' Izzat Ibrahim al Douri, to surrender. If al-Douri turns himself in, “he will be treated with dignity,” Ibrahim said. Al-Douri, the former vice chairman, of the ruling Revolutionary Command Council and a member of Saddam’s inner most circle, is No. 6 on the U.S. most-wanted list. Earlier Sunday, two U.S. con voys were attacked nearly simul taneously in the same western neighborhood in Baghdad. A road side bomb went off by one of the convoys, causing no injuries. But the soldiers opened fire, killing one Iraqi driver nearby and wounding six others, one of the wounded and hospital officials said. Nearby, gunmen opened hre on another convoy, hitting a civilian sport utility vehicle. The U.S. com mand reported no casualties, but witnesses reported seeing three wounded foreigners being taken from the vehicle. In Qaim, near the Syrian bor der about 200 miles northwest of Baghdad, U.S. troops backed by tanks and Bradley fighting vehi cles clashed Sunday with Iraqi gunmen, but there was no report of casualties. U.S. and Iraqi officials have blamed Saddam loyalists and for eign Islamic fighters infiltrating Iraq for the persistent campaign of attacks on American forces and their Iraqi allies. But pinpointing which guerrillas are behind indi vidual attacks has proven diffi cult. WWW. daily gamecock .com President George W. Bush meets iwith rescue workers at the site of the collapsed World Trade Center i towers on Sept. 14, 2001. The Image of NYC firefighters has recently come under scrutiny as a result of allegations. PHOTO BY HARRY HAMBURG/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS NYC firefighters’ heroic image tarnished by recent allegations BY MICHAEL WEISSENSTEIN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK — It was a love affair born of tragedy. For more than two years after the World Trade Center attack, New York City fire fighters could do no wrong. New Yorkers flooded their heroes with homemade cookies and cash donations, gave them rousing ovations in restaurants, even blockaded neighborhood firehouses the city wanted to close. But firefighters’ golden pub lic image has been tarnished in recent months by allegations of on-duty drinking, firehouse brawling, marital infidelity and drug abuse. One firefighter smashed an other in the face with a metal chair after drinking on New Year’s Eve at their Staten Island firehouse. A surprise raid on an East Harlem firehouse found beer _ and liquor in a locker and cocaine in two firefighters’ systems. A captain and a lieutenant were caught drinking beer in uni form in a karaoke bar they were supposed to be inspecting. A fire fighter who posed for the fire de partment’s beefcake charity cal endar is facing a departmental steroid charge. He’s also moon lighting as a stripper. Some firefighters say linger ing trauma from the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, may be causing some of the trouble. More than 7,000 members of the 11,500-mem ber department have gone to the FDNY’s counseling unit for treat ment of anxiety, depression and other problems. Others say a post 9-11 exodus of experienced officers has caused a lapse in discipline. More than 2,300 firefighters and officers have retired since the attack, draining the ranks of the most experienced. Still, many of those caught up in recent scandals are senior of ficers, and some in the depart- f ment believe the years of adula tion may have created a feeling of being above the law and de partment rules. And then there are those who call the bad headlines the in evitable comedown from the out pouring of affection that followed the deaths of343 FDNY members in the trade center’s collapse. The slew of tawdry headlines began with the revelation that firefighters assigned to counsel the families of fallen comrades were leaving their wives to take up with trade center widows. The fire department says it knows of three such relationships, al though media reports said as many as a dozen developed. “The culture we celebrate cer- ▲ tainly does have its dark side,”™ said Terry Golway, author of “So Others Might Live: A History of New York’s Bravest.” rm All registered student organizations receiving or planning to receive student activity fee funding must be represented by their Treasurer at one of the mandatory Treasurer's Workshops listed below. V 4 A id i/ Tuesday, February 17, 2004 RHUU 322/326 3:30 - 5:00 Budgets Due Budgets for the 2004-2005 February 19, 2004 by 4:00pm Government & Student Budget submission forms are www.sg.sc.edu/forms.htm 4 For more info please call Ben Edwards, Students Body Treasurer, at 777-3857. . . - .„ -- —