Iraq's former oil minister has surrendered to U.S.-led forces, the U.S. Central Command said Tuesday.
Amer Mohammed Rashid, known to U.N. weapons inspectors as the "Missile Man," turned himself in Monday. A former general with expertise in weapons delivery systems, he was ranked No. 47 on the U.S. military's list of the 55 most-wanted officials from Saddam's regime.
Rashid is married to Dr. Rihab Taha, a microbiologist known in the West as "Dr. Germ" who was in charge of the secret Iraqi facility that weaponized anthrax and other toxic substances. She is also sought by the United States.
Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix said last month that Taha and Rashid would be among "the most interesting persons" for American investigators to interrogate.
Meanwhile, Al-Jazeera television said on Tuesday 15 Iraqis were killed and about 50 wounded overnight when U.S. troops fired on a crowd in the town of Falluja, 45 kms west of Baghdad.
The report followed an initial report of 10 dead and 70 hurt.
Al Jazeera's Baghdad correspondent, speaking on air by telephone, said U.S. forces opened fire around midnight after someone in the crowd threw a stone at them.
He said a group, numbering up to 200, had finished Muslim evening prayers at a mosque and answered a call by preachers to protest against the continued presence of U.S. troops in Iraq.
He said he did not have an exact number for the injured who were being treated at five different hospitals in Falluja. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
