Rumsfeld: Iraq Belongs to Iraqis

Speaking on his first visit to Baghdad since the fall off the Iraqi regime, American defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld today assured Iraqis that "Iraq belongs to them" and promised that US troops would not stay "one day longer" than was needed to establish a democratic government.

Mr Rumsfeld, the most senior member of President George Bush's administration to visit Iraq since the invasion, arrived in Baghdad early today to review postwar reconstruction first hand.

In an address to the Iraqi people recorded in an ornate room of one of Saddam Hussein's palaces, Mr Rumsfeld asked for their help in hunting down the ex-dictator's supporters and foreign fighters and said US forces were trying to restore essential services.

The chief architect of the war in Iraq opened his speech - to be broadcast on radio and television frequencies by a US military broadcasting service - by saying: "Hello, I'm Don Rumsfeld, the American secretary of defence.

"I am pleased to visit Iraq - your country - to witness your liberation. The American people share your joy that tyranny is gone.

"Let me be clear: Iraq belongs to you. We do not want to run it. Our coalition came to Iraq for a purpose - to remove a regime that oppressed your people and threatened ours.

"Our goal is to restore stability and security so that you can form an interim government and eventually a free Iraqi government - a government of your choosing, a government that is of Iraqi design and Iraqi choice. We will stay as long as necessary to help you do that, and not a day longer."

Prior to recording his address to the Iraq people, Mr Rumsfeld met British troops in Basra. He praised their "remarkable" efforts in taking the town from Saddam Hussein's loyalists, while senior officers gave him a detailed briefing on the UK's role in the war and its part in rebuilding Iraq.

Mr Rumsfeld's apparent attempt to win Iraqi hearts and minds came at a time of growing tension between civilians and the American military.

Hours before he flew into Baghdad, US troops opened fire on anti-American demonstrators for the second time this week, during a march to protest the previous shooting.

The local hospital said two people were killed and at least 16 others wounded. The gunfire came less than 48 hours after a shooting during a demonstration on Monday night that hospital officials said killed 13 Iraqis.

There was no immediate indication of American casualties. The clashes in Fallujah, a conservative Sunni Muslim city and Ba'ath party stronghold 30 miles west of Baghdad, reflect the increasing tensions between US troops and local people.

About 1,000 residents were marching down Fallujah's main street and stopped in front of a battalion headquarters of the US army's 82nd Airborne Division, in a compound formerly occupied by Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party. The demonstrators were carrying signs condemning Monday night's shooting.

Protesters started throwing rocks and shoes at the compound and troops opened fire about 10.30am (0630 GMT), scattering the demonstrators. Some of the protesters then returned to pick up the wounded.

Major Michael Marti, an intelligence officer for the division's 2nd Brigade, said soldiers in a passing convoy fired on the crowd after rocks were thrown at them and a vehicle window was broken by what was believed to be automatic weapons fire.

But city officials who witnessed the gunfire told an Associated Press reporter they saw or heard no shooting from among the protesters.

US Apache attack helicopters circled the site throughout the march and for hours afterwards. US officers met with Fallujah mayor Taha Bedaiwi al-Alwani and leading area sheiks in hopes of reducing tension, while scores of demonstrators clustered angrily outside the town hall where the meeting took place.

"Get out, get out!" one protester shouted at soldiers guarding the meeting. "We will keep this up, we will keep them on edge," said another protester, 29-year-old Abdul Adim Mohammed Hussein.

Emerging from the meeting, the imam of the Grand Fallujah Mosque, Jamal Shaqir Mahmood, said: "The Americans said 'We won't reduce the numbers, they're needed for security'. But the people of Fallujah told them we already have security."

The American forces have given no indication they might reduce their presence in Fallujah, which is the site of factories suspected of being linked to banned weapons programs for Saddam's regime. However, US forces did leave their station at the school where Monday's shooting took place.