Violence continues in aftermath of Saddam arrest

As US President George Bush predicted yesterday, the capture of Saddam Hussein has not meant "an end to violence" in Iraq after a car bomb ripped through a police station today killing eight people.

The deaths occurred at a police station in Husseiniya, 30km north of Baghdad, when a car was driven through a perimeter fence and explosive was detonated close to the building. Ten others were reported to have been injured during the incident. Four people were also injured in a separate suicide bomb attack on a police station in Amiriya.

The security situation had been dire even prior to the official announcement on the capture of the former dictator, as 17 people died in Khalidiyah in the most devastating bomb attack thus far mounted against the newly created police force.

Now that Hussein is out of the picture, and with almost all the regime's top 55 leaders killed or captured, both Prime Minister Tony Blair and President George Bush yesterday urged Iraqis to unite behind the governing authority and to look to the future.

However, Britain's envoy to Iraq, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, told Radio 4 today that the most likely response from regime loyalists would be to increase strikes against local authorities and Coalition troops.

"There are those out there who still want to show they resent what's happened and will want to keep throwing stuff at the coalition forces," he said.

"In some ways, we think the violence could well go up as a matter of retaliation and resentment at the success of the capture."

He added: "But we hope that will be reasonably short-lived and, gradually over the early months of next year, some of the violence will go down."

That resentment was also on display in Tikrit today, Saddam's home town, as around 700 people took to the streets to protest at the arrest of their former leader. They were no injuries reported during the protest and at least one person was arrested.

As the streets of Baghdad and around the country erupted with the traditional "celebratory gunfire" yesterday, eight people were reported to have been killed and dozens wounded in Kirkuk as a result of ricochets and bullets falling to earth.

(gmcg)