U.S. raid focuses on group of thugs

Criminals want the area to remain unstable so they can continue activities.
KHALIS, Iraq (AP) -- Hundreds of U.S. soldiers raided a northern Iraqi town today in a bid to smash a crime ring wanted for murder, gunrunning and a terrorist attack on a police station that killed an American soldier earlier this month.
Backed by tanks, helicopters and Bradley fighting vehicles, the soldiers stormed Khalis, 42 miles north of Baghdad, hunting for the gang's notorious leader, Lateef Hamed al Kubaishat -- known as Lateef by U.S. forces, said Col. David Hogg, commander of the 4th Infantry Division's 2nd Brigade.
The raid, code-named "Operation Jimmy Hoffa," netted at least 24 members of the "terrorist organization" but Lateef appeared to have eluded capture, Hogg said.
"Their primary focus is probably criminal activity, but they have attacked coalition forces through direct and indirect means," Hogg told The Associated Press. "As long as he [Lateef] is in place, we will not be able to establish the conditions for the Iraqi police to establish law and order in the area."
Informants helped
Iraqi informants dressed in U.S. Army camouflage uniforms, their faces covered in black balaclavas and their eyes hidden behind dark sunglasses, sat in the back of Humvees helping soldiers identify members of Lateef's gang.
U.S. soldiers with plastic zip-ties -- used to handcuff detainees -- hanging from their flak jackets combed scores of flat-roofed houses while curious residents watched from the dusty streets. Men and women were ordered to sit against walls as soldiers filtered through their homes looking for weapons and gang members.
Lateef's gang had claimed responsibility for a bomb that exploded outside the police headquarters in nearby Baqouba on Aug. 10, killing one U.S. military policeman, U.S. forces said. Lateef is also accused of selling weapons, burning down the Baqouba courthouse to destroy criminal records and murdering a prostitute whom he accused of providing services to U.S. troops in the area.
Released from prison
Lateef was imprisoned and serving multiple life sentences for murder until Saddam Hussein granted amnesty to all prisoners in October as the United States ratcheted up its case for invading Iraq, according to U.S. intelligence officers.
U.S. Army officers in the area have said they are being attacked by Baath Party loyalists, Fedayeen Saddam militia fighters and criminal gangs who simply want the region to remain unstable so they can carryout their activities unhindered.
"This operation will go a long way to show the Iraqi population that we are doing this for them. It's part of our mission to provide a safe and secure environment so they can continue to build government structures and security structures," Hogg said.
Meanwhile, the Bush administration, encountering U.N. Security Council resistance, may not seek a resolution giving the U.N.'s blessing for the deployment of additional foreign forces in Iraq, U.S. officials say.
Four days after Secretary of State Colin Powell made a pitch for council backing of his call for more forces, U.N. Ambassador John Negroponte acknowledged on Monday, "We're nowhere near a resolution on Iraq."
Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage said the administration had not yet determined whether to seek a resolution.
A State Department official, asking not to be identified, said it was a difficult sell for the administration, given that many council members believe Washington is to blame for continuing security problems in Iraq.
The official noted that the United States ignored council wishes last March by deciding to go into Iraq without council support.
Powell interrupted his vacation last Thursday to travel to New York to make the case for a new council resolution that would endorse a larger U.S.-led coalition force in Iraq. The coalition includes about 140,000 U.S. troops backed by some 24,000 troops from other countries.
Powell had hoped that outrage over the devastating bombing of the U.N. compound in Iraq last Tuesday would make the council amenable to a resolution explicitly welcoming such a step.