Coalition Mulls Increasing Iraqi Army Pay

BAGHDAD, Iraq – After the desertions of approximately half of the new Iraqi army's recruits, the U.S. general in charge of Iraqi military operations said Saturday that the coalition will consider increasing soldiers' wages.

Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez (search), speaking at a news conference, said the major reason for the defections was pay, specifically allowances for married soldiers who were struggling to support their families on $60 a month.

"We're working to review the pay scales and I think we'll have a decision in the coming weeks," Sanchez said.

Deputy Secretary of State Dick Armitage (search) said, "There's no secret to the fact that those who want to blight the future of the Iraqi nation have started targeting Iraqis who are themselves working for the betterment of the entire country. And I think intimidation and things of that nature do work in some cases."

Sanchez said the setbacks shouldn't harm the overall goal of training 40,000 members of light infantry battalions by next October. That contradicts reports that the U.S. military had scaled back that goal.

Sanchez said he believed that the military's targets in training the officers were still valid, though. He also said a separate, 550-member force drawn from militias affiliated with Iraqi political parties, was being trained to fight guerrillas in Baghdad.

The unit, he said, was part of the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps (search) and would work under the command of the 1st Armored Division, the U.S. military unit in charge of the Iraqi capital.

Sanchez, who had previously given the number of detainees under coalition control in Iraq as about 5,000, conceded that the number is now "almost to 10,000."

Among those are 3,800 members of the Iranian militant group Mujahedeen Khalq (search), who are restricted to their camp northeast of Baghdad and are "separated" from their weapons, Sanchez said. The Mujahedeen have been fighting Iran's religious government from bases in Iraq and the coalition considers them a terrorist organization.

Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, have said that Americans have met with them to learn from Israeli tactics in their fight against Palestinian militants — something Sanchez did not dispute.

Asked whether U.S. troops were using Israeli tactics including targeted killings and collective punishment, Sanchez said only: "It's a different time, a different place and a different country."

"We can be a ferocious army, but we can also be a benevolent army, and we are not going to change," he added.

Sanchez said he had no idea how long it would take to catch Saddam Hussein, but said there should be no doubt that despite frequent attacks against coalition forces the U.S.-led occupation forces will defeat the guerrillas.

"There is no question in my mind that the coalition and the Iraqi people are winning," he said.

Also Saturday, eight Jordanian, Lebanese and Syrian prisoners were flown home after being released from several U.S.-run detention centers in Iraq.

Three of the eight suffered "serious injuries which may result in partial disabilities," International Committee of the Red Cross spokesman Muin Kassis told The Associated Press. He said their injuries were the result of an "accident" during their detention.

Meanwhile, the president of the Iraqi Governing Council, Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim (search), and at least two other members of the council left Friday for Spain at the start of a European tour that will include France, Germany and Britain, according to a coalition official who spoke on condition of anonymity.

In Paris, the French Foreign Ministry said the Iraqi delegation was to attend a meeting organized by MEDEF, France's main employer's organization.

French executives hope to press their business interests in Iraq despite a U.S. ban on reconstruction contracts for nations that opposed the war.

French President Jacques Chirac was a top critic of the war.

The ministry said the Iraqi delegation will also hold talks with French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin to discuss "the prospects for change in the country," after the U.S.-led administration hands sovereignty to a transitional government next July.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.