U.S. Is Likely to Replace a Leader of Fallouja Brigade

One of the ex-Iraqi generals named by Marine commanders to head a U.S.-backed security force in this troubled city is likely to be removed, an official said Monday.

Former Maj. Gen. Jassim Mohammed Saleh, welcomed just days ago as part of the solution to a near-monthlong standoff between Marines and insurgents, is not expected to survive scrutiny of his background.

“I would say the trajectory is that he’s on the way out,” said the official, who asked not to be named.

Representatives of two of Iraq’s major groups -- Shiite Muslims and Kurds -- have condemned the appointment of Saleh, who was a commander of Hussein’s Republican Guard. Reports have emerged linking Saleh to operations crushing the Kurdish uprising against Hussein’s rule after the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, indicated in weekend interviews that Saleh was not likely to pass a U.S. military review of his record.

Saleh, a Sunni Muslim sometimes known by his tribal surname Mihimdi, is also a native of Fallouja and a member of a prominent tribe here. His appointment appeared to be very popular. It is unknown how residents will react to his expected ouster.

Iraqi security officials interviewed in Fallouja on Monday denied reports that Saleh was likely to be replaced.

“It is baseless. He is still the commander,” said one of his aides, Col. Khudair Younis Fizaa Zobai. “We are the Fallouja protective force. Therefore, we will not accept anyone who is not from Fallouja.”

U.S. commanders say the Iraqi unit will be headed by another former general, Mohammed Latif. Little could be learned about Latif, but he is not from Fallouja. Marine commanders say he was an intelligence officer who fell out of favor with Hussein and eventually went into exile.

Marines have called the new force the Fallouja Brigade, which is expected to include about 1,100 troops. One early plan called for Latif to head the brigade and Saleh to be chief of a subordinate battalion. It is now unclear if Saleh will remain an officer in the new unit.

The Fallouja Brigade emerged last week to resolve the confrontation between Marines and insurgents in Fallouja. Marines agreed to withdraw from much of the city and transferred security into the hands of the new protective force, to be made up largely of former Hussein soldiers.

On Monday, the Fallouja Brigade, under the control of four former generals in the Iraqi army, continued to welcome recruits, mostly young men living in this city of 300,000.

The Marines provided an additional 1,400 uniforms and sets of boots for the new force. The U.S. is also supplying weapons, communications gear and vehicles.

Col. John Toolan, commander of the 1st Marine Regiment, said he was convinced that if the Marines had launched an assault on insurgent strongholds there, the June 30 deadline for the Coalition Provisional Authority to return sovereignty to Iraqis would have been disrupted.

“It would have never happened,” he said. “You need order. We need political stability here.”

In Fallouja, residents of the battle-scarred Jolan neighborhood began returning to their damaged homes Monday under the gaze of Marines.

By nightfall, sporadic gunfire was heard in the rubble-strewn neighborhood in the city’s northwest corner that was the scene of intense fighting between Marines and insurgents for three weeks.

Under a plan to turn Fallouja over to the new Iraqi brigade, nearly all the Marine units that were in the city have moved outside.

Some Marines remained on the outskirts to help with the transition. “We’re going to stay connected with them the entire time,” Toolan said. “If they need us, all they need to do is call.”

A trickle of cars deposited families with children. Women carried bundles of clothing on their heads. Men inspected their homes, some of which had been used by Marines, others by insurgents, during the battle.

Residents found mounds of garbage in the streets, some smoldering, broken windows and numerous buildings destroyed by tank fire or bombs dropped by U.S. warplanes.

The 150-foot minaret in a mosque that once loomed over the neighborhood from a hill adjacent to a cemetery was gone, destroyed by Marines trying to stop insurgents from using the structure to fire at them.

Other mosques in the neighborhood were silent. Absent was the daily call to prayers that had been heard for miles, often mixed with the sound of gunfire and buzz of unmanned U.S. surveillance planes during the last month.

Young men dressed in black and carrying AK-47 rifles, thought to be insurgents, were also seen sauntering through the streets, peering into homes. Some incidents of looting were reported.

“Mostly it’s families” returning, Lance Cpl. John Longoria said. “It’s like it’s coming-home day. People look happy.”

Several dozen families returned to a public-housing project that had been used by the Marines as a command post. Two men approached and asked when they could return to their homes.

The Marines had paid each family $200 to move to allow troops to enter the neighborhood to confront insurgents.

“We need to come home,” Faisal Bader said. “I have been living on the street. You must help us.”

His companion, Mohammed Homede, said Fallouja residents had been unable to get to work because of the fighting and the Marine checkpoints that encircled the city.

“We are glad you did not wreck our homes, but we need to come back,” Homede said.

Bader and Homede were told that they would be paid for any damage caused by the Marines. A Marine lawyer will soon go door to door making payments; a claims office has already been established.

“Thank you, thank you,” Bader said. “We know you did not steal anything.”

When the Iraqi forces gain control of the city, the Marines will focus their efforts in rural areas, attempting to stop arms smuggling and the movement of fighters into Fallouja.

“We’re just moving into another area to hunt insurgents,” said Capt. Douglas Zembiec, commander of Echo Company. The unit lost three Marines and one translator during the fighting. About 50 of his Marines were wounded.

Meanwhile, another Marine was killed in western Iraq on Monday, adding to the high toll since the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force arrived in March to relieve the Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. No further details were available.

Elsewhere in Iraq, violence flared anew in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, where U.S. forces are engaged in a standoff with the forces of militant cleric Muqtada Sadr.

Insurgents lobbed mortar rounds at a U.S. base and exchanged machine-gun fire with Shiite militiamen, the Reuters news agency reported. U.S. fire may have killed 20 insurgents, Associated Press said. As many as 15 people were reported wounded.

Near Baghdad, a soldier with the Army’s 1st Armored Division was killed and two others were wounded as they came under fire while guarding a cache of seized weapons south of the city, the military said.

Later in the evening, U.S. forces in Baghdad launched an artillery barrage that killed four suspected guerrillas, a military spokeswomen said. There was no word on civilian casualties.

Fourteen 105-millimeter rounds were fired at unspecified targets by the 1st Cavalry Division, which has responsibility for security in the capital.

Perry reported from Fallouja and McDonnell from Baghdad. Special correspondent Raheem Salman in Fallouja contributed to this report.