
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, March 13, 1991                   TAG: 9103130292
SECTION: NATL/INTL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NICOSIA, CYPRUS                                LENGTH: Medium

SADDAM SAID TO BE USING NAPALM IN REBEL CLASHES

Saddam Hussein's troops blasted their way into the Shiite Muslim holy cities of Karbala and Najaf as they struggled to beat back a nationwide rebellion, Iraqi opposition leaders said Tuesday.

Loyal troops also were reported to have used napalm to try to crush a rebellion in the southern Iraqi city of Basra. And rebels were said to have slowed their advance on the northern oil city of Kirkuk out of fear for 5,000 civilians being held as human shields there.

The reports, none of which could be confirmed, drew a picture of Saddam's forces slowly regaining control over Iraq, portions of which have been plunged into rebellion and chaos since the end of the Gulf War.

Rebel sources still claim control of many towns and cities in the north, but the inconsistency of their reports indicate that many areas are see-sawing between government and insurgent control.

Also on Tuesday, the Red Cross informed U.S. authorities that one American and five Britons are among 14 allied servicemen whose remains Iraq has offered to return, Pentagon officials said Tuesday.

The American was identified as Navy Lt. William Costen, 27, of St. Louis, an A-6 strike aircraft pilot whose plane was shot down over Iraq on Jan. 18.

At a meeting Monday of opposition leaders in Beirut, Lebanon, speakers agreed that the rebels will need better coordination to overcome Saddam's battered, but still effective, war machine.

Ayatollah Mohammed Baker al-Hakim, the most influential Shiite opposition leader, conceded in a statement that the revolt was "not an organized act."

The Beirut meeting brought together 325 Iraqi opposition leaders from 23 factions, who tried to reach unity on the type of government they would like to see in a post-Saddam Iraq. In his statement, Hakim said his Shiite followers do not want a Muslim state like Iran's, but "believe that Islam should be respected and applied in Iraq."

Sources at the meeting conceded that Iraqi troops had retaken Karbala and Najaf, south of Baghdad, after heavy fighting on Monday.

In Washington, Pentagon spokesman Pete Williams offered a similar assessment.

Williams said that "government forces do appear to be gaining some greater control over the situation, particularly in and around the Shiite holy cities of Najaf and Karbala."

Iran's official media said loyalist forces had used napalm to try to crush the rebellion in the southern port city of Basra.

There also was a report from an Iranian opposition group that Iran's military was infiltrating Iraq to overthrow Saddam and destroy Mujahedeen military bases there.

The Iraq-based group, the People's Mujahedeen, issued a statement in Paris saying Mujahedeen guerrillas pushed back a "massive deployment" of Iranians on Sunday at a Mujahedeen base in the Iraqi province of Dyallah, north of Baghdad. Iran has publicly urged the overthrow of Saddam, but has said it was not assisting the rebels.

by CNB