Capture of Saddam 'has not altered enemy tactics' US MILITARY VIEW:

Wednesday, Dec 31, 2003

US military officials said yesterday they did not believe the capture of Saddam Hussein had galvanised Iraqi insurgents or made them change tactics, despite a spike in killings of coalition soldiers in the last week.

A senior American general said the number and type of attacks on US and allied troops had not changed in the last two weeks, although he acknowledged there appeared to be an attempt by guerrillas to use the Christmas holiday to mount an offensive.

"Since the capture of Saddam Hussein, we've seen the number of engagements stay relatively the same," said Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of operations for coalition ground forces.

"Unfortunately, some of those engagements have been a little more deadly, (but) I don't think that that has anything to do with the specific capture of Saddam Hussein."

Twenty coalition soldiers were killed over a five-day period starting on Christmas Eve - the largest death toll over such a short period since 19 soldiers were killed when two Black Hawk helicopters were downed more than a month ago.

The dead included two Thai engineers and four Bulgarian soldiers killed in multiple car bombings on Saturday in the southern Shia city of Karbala

Coalition officials insist they are seeing signs that mid-level officials from the former regime have given up hope of a return of Ba'athist rule following Mr Hussein's capture, a change that US officials hope will quell their support for the insurgency.

Brig Gen Kimmitt said US forces had stymied a larger Christmas attack by capturing weapons that had been set to fire at several targets.

He said coalition officials had gathered intelligence that at least 18 separate attacks had been planned between 6am and 8am on Christmas morning. While some of those attacks were carried out, they caused little damage.

"The capture of Saddam Hussein has provided intelligence which has been helpful in continuing the operations," the general said. "Yes, the number of personnel that we're capturing is about the same that we've been capturing consistently over the last couple of months, but the quality of captures has gone up a bit."

These included the killing on Saturday of Sarhid Ab Sarhid, a former officer in the Iraqi military intelligence directorate, who was believed to have been a leader of the Baghdad-based insurgency cell that shot at and hit a DHL transport aircraft as it was leaving Baghdad's international airport.

Although the aircraft returned safely, civilian flights from the airport have been barred since. Rebuilding Iraq: www.ft.com/iraq

By PETER SPIEGEL