The United States today held up the capture of a veteran Palestinian guerrilla chief in Iraq as proof of a link between Saddam Hussein and terrorism as troops scoured Baghdad for the ousted President and his aides. With major combat over, Washington lowered the terrorist threat at home to yellow, down a notch from its wartime level of orange. No need for sanctions anymore: Bush SAINT LOUIS (MISSOURI): US President George W. Bush on Wednesday called for a withdrawal of UN sanctions on Iraq now that the Saddam Hussein regime has ‘‘passed into history’’. In his first speech to a civilian audience outside Washington since the war began, Bush told Boeing defence workers that the US will in near future seek a UN resolution in this regard. (AFP) The US military said the detention in Baghdad of Abu Abbas, mastermind of the 1985 hijacking of the Italian cruise ship Achille Lauro, helped to justify the US-led invasion of Iraq. The Palestinian Authority has demanded his release. ‘‘When we came into this the Secretary of Defense (Donald Rumsfeld) said one big concern was the nexus between this regime and terrorism. This proves the nexus was there,’’ said Captain Frank Thorp, spokesman at US war headquarters in Qatar. Abbas has long renounced violence and Israel has allowed him to travel to Gaza, declaring him immune from prosecution over the hijacking. Washington itself dropped a warrant for his arrest several years ago, but he is wanted in Italy. Abbas had tried to flee to Syria, but was turned back, a senior Bush administration official said. Syria’s refusal to allow Abbas entry is in keeping with Syria’s cooperation with the US on tracking down terrorists since Sep 11, 2001, attacks. Because of what they see as that quiet aid, some US intelligence officials have been critical of the recent criticism of Syria by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell. Rumsfeld has charged Syria with allowing leaders of Iraq’s ousted government to flee across its border. US Air Force Gen Richard Myers said in an interview in CNN’s Larry King Live that Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld will visit Iraq, though no date has been set for the trip. A top Iraqi Shiite leader, Abdelaziz Hakim of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution, returned to Iraq ending a 23-yr-exile in Iran.
