Newspaper Article

AFTER THE WAR: THE OVERVIEW; IRAQI CLASHES SAID TO GROW AS TROOPS JOIN IN PROTESTS; FIRST ALLIED CAPTIVES FREED

R. W. APPLE Jr., Special to The New York Times

1991

Overview

Diplomats and experts on the region differed over the significance of the spreading violence. A Western ambassador in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, said it \"marks the beginning of the end for Hussein.\" But a Saudi expert said it amounted only to \"the turbulent backlash of war, which he'll put down in a week or so.\" Hojatolislam Mohammed Bakr al-Hakim, head of the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a Shiite Muslim organization based in Teheran, said at a news conference in the Iranian capital that rebels had captured the cities of Nasiriya, Samawa, Kut, Diwaniya and Amara, and that a Republican Guard regiment had surrendered in Amara. All the cities are southeast of Baghdad in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, the Shiite heartland in Iraq. 'Casualties Are High' An ancient settlement, [Basra] has long been a hotbed of Shiite opposition to Mr. Hussein. The city was severely damaged in the Iran-Iraq war, leaving many of its citizens disaffected from Mr. Hussein's Government, and the same thing has happened in the gulf war. In addition, it is awash with bitter soldiers, who are doubtless spreading stories of the armed forces' humiliation, the heavy casualties suffered during the fighting, and the large number of prisoners of war taken by the allies.

• Publisher: New York Times Company
• Subject: APPLE, R W JR / ARMAMENT, DEFENSE AND MILITARY FORCES / DEMONSTRATIONS AND RIOTS / Hussein, Saddam / HUSSEIN, SADDAM (PRES) / HUSSEIN, UDAY / KELLY, THOMAS (LT GEN) / SHIITE MOSLEMS / UNITED STATES ARMAMENT AND DEFENSE