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Iraqi government fires police chiefs
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-11-12 21:53

Police chiefs in two major Iraqi cities were fired Friday amid a spike in insurgent activity as U.S. and Iraqi government forces press their attacks against rebel holdouts in Fallujah, officials said.

Mosul police chief Brig. Gen. Mohammed Kheiri Barhawi was fired after rebels launched widespread attacks Thursday in Iraq's third-largest city, according to deputy Gov. Khissrou Gouran.

The police chief in Samarra, Taleb Shamel, told The Associated Press that he, too, was fired. There was no confirmation from the Iraqi government in Baghdad on the moves because offices were closed Friday, the Muslim day of rest and worship.

Shamel said no reason was given, but the city has been the scene of clashes between insurgents and U.S. troops since they regained control of Samarra from guerrillas in September.

Clashes erupted about 3 p.m. Friday in Samarra, and hospital officials said one Iraqi was killed and three others were wounded.

The United States hopes to deploy enough trained Iraqi police and National Guard troops so they can assume more security duties from the Americans, enabling Washington to consider drawing down the 142,000-strong U.S. troop presence.

However, the performance of Iraqi forces — especially the police — has been uneven, and U.S. officials acknowledge privately that training has been ineffective.

In Mosul, Barhawi was replaced by Brig. Gen. Adel Fatouhi, the official said. The move followed allegations by local officials that police abandoned their positions and in some cases cooperated with insurgents during Thursday's attacks.

Masked insurgents stormed at least five police stations, political offices and other targets in Mosul, clashing with U.S. troops for several hours, in a possible move to open a second front to relieve pressure on Fallujah, the target of a massive U.S. offensive.

Four brigades from the Iraqi National Guard have been ordered to Mosul from their bases near Syria, Gouran said. The units consist of Kurds who used to be in the Kurdish peshmerga militia before being incorporated into the government's security force.

Gouran also said gunmen tried to storm a food distribution center in the Yarmouk area of Mosul but were forced back by National Guardsmen and security guards. The gunmen were trying to destroy election registration cards held at the center, Gouran said.

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