Daily News (New York) April 10, 2003
Kurds King Of Mountain Grab control of key northern stronghold
By Stephan Faris and Derek Rose
U.S. and Kurdish forces dislodged Iraqis from a key mountain stronghold guarding the main northern city of Mosul yesterday, their biggest victory yet.
"Anyone that has this mountain controls the north, the south, the east and the west," said Sarbest Babiri, the Kurdish front-line commander.
"As a soldier and as a commander, I think this: If I have Mount Maqloub, I have Mosul," Babiri said.
Other Kurdish leaders agreed. "From our perspective, this is the most important gain of the northern front so far," said Hoshiyar Zebari, political adviser to Kurdistan Democratic Party leader Massoud Barzani.
U.S. forces and their Kurdish allies stormed Mount Maqloub, some 9 miles northeast of Mosul, early yesterday.
As spirits fell among Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's forces, they soared among the Kurds.
Burning tires spat black smoke from the hills, and young men linked hands to shuffle a traditional Kurdish dance.
"This is because of Saddam, because Saddam is gone forever," said Ibrahim Mustafa Jassim, 53.
'The last stronghold'
About 110 miles north of Baghdad, U.S. bomber jets pounded Tikrit yesterday as attention also shifted to Saddam's hometown and stronghold.
With Iraqi forces moving north as the U.S. began taking more sections of Baghdad, there may be a Republican Guard infantry division in the area, U.S. officials said.
They also believe there's a chance Saddam may choose to make his last stand in Tikrit, a dusty, decaying old textile city of about 60,000.
"We certainly are focused on Tikrit to prevent the regime from being able to use it as a place to command and control, to restore command and control or to hide," Army Brig. Gen. Vincent Brooks said yesterday.
In addition to being Saddam's hometown, it is his political base and the place he has built his most opulent palaces. Most of Saddam's confidants come from Tikrit, and if any area of Iraq is loyal to the embattled dictator, it is there.
"Because they have the most at stake and form the heart of the regime, the presumption is it will put up the most resistance," said Francois Boo, an analyst at Globalsecurity.org, a research group based near Washington. "It is the last stronghold of the regime."
Geographically, Tikrit would not be the smartest place for a last stand. Surrounded by desert, it gives U.S. troops plenty of room to maneuver, and its wide roads are perfect for tanks.
Richard Murphy, a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Manhattan, said Tikrit could prove to be as much of a pushover as Baghdad.
"The guys who dropped their guns, went into civvies, were ultraloyalists, were presumed to be willing to die for Saddam - and they didn't act that way," he said.
GRAPHIC: REUTERS YANKEES, YES! Iraqi man wearing Yankees cap gives a thumbs up to advancing U.S. Marines yesterday as they move into the center of Baghdad.
Copyright © 2003, Daily News, L.P.
