The fresh produce on the floor outside made it look like any other Iraqi greengrocer’s, but the Saddam Hussein portrait hanging inside led a passing U.S. army patrol to take a closer look. A quick search through baskets of vegetables and bags of seeds on Friday uncovered a stash of ammunition, explosives, detonators and one rocket-propelled grenade. The only thing missing was the shopkeeper who had apparently vanished. The chance find was significant for the Cougar tank company which patrols the area north of Tikrit, Saddam’s home town where he still enjoys open support from the people and where the U.S.-led occupation is bitterly resented.
Soldiers in the area have been plagued by home-made bombs and they are on the look out for bomb makers and materials which could be used to make the crude but effective road-side "improvised explosive devices" (IEDs). "In Kadisaya, we haven’t found much of this, we look for it on a daily basis," said company commander Captain Jon Cecalupo. "This was found hidden in a basket of vegetables they are selling on the market, these are places we usually wouldn’t have looked." The Saddam picture was spotted by a tank commander from the turret of his M1A1 Abrams and a soldier was sent to gingerly peel it off the wall, mindful of the fact that some such posters pasted on to nearby bus stops have been booby-trapped. |