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As diplomatic activities in the Middle East and the United States centered on the issue of post-war reconstruction and arrangements in Iraq, the United States Central Command in Qatar said on Monday that another wanted Iraqi top official has fallen into US hands.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak arrived in the Saudi capital Riyadh Monday afternoon on the fourth leg of his Middle East tour.He is expected to meet Saudi officials on the latest regional developments, mainly the future of post-war Iraq.
During the visit, Mubarak will hold talks with Saudi King Fahd Ibn Abdul-Aziz and Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul-Aziz on the latest developments in Iraq and means of achieving peace and stability in the region.
Mubarak's tour was widely considered another major step for Arab leaders to exchange views face-to-face on the future of the Middle East following an Arab League summit in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheikh, on March 1.
In Amman, the Jordanian government called for the overall withdrawal of the US-led coalition forces from Iraq as soon as possible.
"This withdrawal should be a comprehensive one that could help a new Iraqi government and the Iraqi army control the whole of Iraqi soil," Jordanian Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher told reporters after talks with visiting Arab League (AL) chief Amr Moussa.
During a meeting with Jordanian Prime Minister Ali Abu Ragheb, Moussa said the AL was mulling rejecting any government imposed on Iraq from outside.
The move was part of consultations currently within the AL, Moussa said, adding that he will get the answer when he concludes the tour, which will also take him to Syria.
A broad-based Iraqi government with the participation of all parties will be the one chosen by the Iraqi people, he added.
In Iraq, the first United Nations food convoy has arrived in Baghdad and the US military unveiled a three-stage power transfer on Monday.
The World Food Program (WFP) said on Monday the first UN aid convoy carrying 1,400 tons of food arrived in Baghdad on Sunday afternoon, but lack of security and safe warehousing in the city has delayed the shipment.
"In a very short time, more than six times this quantity will need to be sent every day from Jordan," the WFP said.
In northern Iraq, food delivery continued to increase rapidly. The WFP said it now provides nearly half the average monthly food requirement in the north.
On the other hand, the US military pledged on the newly established Information Radio that it would restore security in Iraq in the first stage of transition.
The US forces would stop the rampant looting and violence that plagued Iraqi cities after the downfall of the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein, the radio said.
The second stage would see the forming of an interim administration to ensure basic services and supplies to the Iraqi people.
The third stage involves free elections across the country for Iraqi leadership to take charge of the country's affairs, the radio added.
In Washington, US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Monday denied the US government was seeking permanent military bases in postwar Iraq.
"I have never, that I can recall, heard the subject of a permanent base in Iraq discussed in any meeting," Rumsfeld told a Pentagon news briefing in response to a report in Sunday's New York Times.
The Times reported that the Bush administration was planning to have a long-term military relationship with postwar Iraq and intended to maintain permanent military bases in the oil-rich country.
The US government renewed warnings of worldwide potential threats of terror attacks against its citizens, saying tensions from recent events in Iraq may increase the potential threat to US citizens and interests abroad.
The UN Security Council is scheduled to hold consultations on Tuesday morning on the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission for Iraq (UNMOVIC), with a briefing by Executive Chairman Hans Blix, a UN spokesperson said.
With one more US-wanted Iraqi top official captured on Monday, leaders of Saddam's regime increasingly felt the brunt of US manhunt for them.
Mohammad Hamza al-Zubaidi, one of 55 wanted Iraqi officials, was taken into custody by US forces on Monday, bringing the total of captured Iraqi leaders to eight, the US Central Command said.
Zubaidi was reportedly captured by the Free Iraqi Forces in Hilla, 80 km south of Baghdad and was then handed over to the US Army.
Zubaidi, the queen of spades in the "most wanted" deck of cards issued by the US military, served as a member of the most powerful Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council chaired by Saddam.
As the war in Iraq draws to an end, there are still outcries against it. Tens of thousands of Germans participated in traditional Easter marches on Monday, denouncing the US-led war in Iraq.
The demonstrators, rallying in both large cities and small towns throughout the country, condemned the war, demanded US troops leave Iraq and rejected a "post-war order dominated by military victors."
(Xinhua News Agency April 22, 2003)
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