Baghdad 'mayor' arrested

The U.S. forces seized the self-declared mayor of postwar Baghdad yesterday for exercising authority he did not have, prompting an angry reaction from his supporters who demanded his immediate release.

U.S. Central Command in Qatar said Mohammed Mohsen Zubaidi, who proclaimed himself mayor of the capital earlier this month, had been obstructing efforts to rebuild Iraq following the toppling of Saddam Hussain.

"Zubaidi was detained and then removed from Baghdad to prevent his continued misrepresentation of his authority as the mayor of Baghdad in the aftermath of the regime's defeat," Central Command said in a statement.

Zubaidi had said he was elected by people representing clerics, academics, Shiite and Sunni Muslims, Christians, writers and journalists – although he did not clarify how or when a vote took place or who organised it.

He set up 22 committees to function in place of ministries, including health, education, water, electricity and industry, prompting widespread confusion about who was actually in charge of the Iraqi capital.

Officials in the U.S. civil administration for Iraq, led by retired general Jay Garner, repeatedly said they did not recognise Zubaidi's authority.

Central Command said until the Iraqis established a representative elected government, "the coalition is the only legitimate authority in Baghdad".

Many Iraqis say the U.S. has not done enough to restore security and services since Saddam's fall.

Zubaidi was one of several self-declared local leaders who emerged in the power vacuum that followed the removal of Saddam's Baath government.

Central Command said seven other members of Zubaidi's organisation had also been detained. Five were later released and the rest were being held at an internment facility in Iraq. "There were no injuries and no exchange of gunfire," it said.

Central Command said Zubaidi had sent letters to individuals and organisations in Baghdad telling them not to go back to work at power, water and sewage plants and banks unless he approved it. It said Zubaidi had fired power company employees and appointed his allies in their place.

"Zubaidi's efforts to take political and personal advantage during this transitional period in Iraq's move to a representative government made it necessary for coalition forces to act decisively against him," it said.

"The coalition is committed to ensuring that the people of Iraq elect their own future political leaders in Iraq. The coalition will not tolerate, and will exercise every option at its disposal, to ensure there is no interference with the Iraqi people's moves toward self-governance and reconstruction."

The organisation set up by Zubaidi, the Local Council of Baghdad, said in a statement he had been arrested because he decided to pay salaries for employees this month with pay increases "suitable with the living conditions of citizens".

It said he should be released immediately. Zubaidi reportedly held a parallel meeting earlier with city officials and announced he would meet Jay Garner, the retired U.S. general heading ORHA, today.

U.S. forces, meanwhile, imposed their will on the strategic eastern city of Kut, forcing out a cleric who had taken charge and seizing the mayor's office in a symbolic show of power.

Marines stood guard on the perimeter walls at Kut city hall yesterday and a U.S. administrator held meetings inside it, after self-styled mayor Abbas Abu Ragef – also known as Saed Abbas – quit town.

Garner and his team met city officials from Saddam's deposed government yesterday to discuss restoring water, sewage and waste collection services.

More than two weeks after U.S. troops entered the capital, it is still far from clear who has filled the power vacuum left in Baghdad by the fall of Saddam. Residents have expressed growing frustration over the lack of power and water following bombing of the Iraqi capital.

Barbara Bodine, ORHA coordinator for central Iraq, met about 10 Iraqis yesterday including two men who were deputy Baghdad mayors under Saddam, her aide Keith Schollum told reporters.

A team of Iraqis will be in place in a few days to take over the day-to-day operation of Baghdad, Bodine said as anger mounted at the lack of basic services since the war.

"Our goal is to work with the structure to get the city back not just where it was, but better," Bodine said after the meeting in the water and sewage headquarters of the looted city government complex.