WASHINGTON, 9 April 2003 — A local militia opposed to Iraqi President Saddam Hussein took control of the southeastern city of Amara on Sunday but a CIA officer told them to withdraw under threat of bombing, opposition officials said yesterday.

The militia of several thousand armed men, led by a man by the name of Abu Hatem Mohammed Ali, captured the headquarters of the governorate, 365 km southeast of Baghdad, without support from US forces, opposition leader Kanan Makiya told the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

He described Abu Hatem as a well-known guerrilla leader, a longtime contact of the opposition Iraqi National Congress (INC) and a man known to the Pentagon.

“He was then told by a CIA officer whose name I do not know but who spoke perfect Arabic that he had to vacate that city ... He was threatened with bombing and strafing of the building, the compound he took over, so he decided it would be better to be wise and he did withdraw in fact,” he added.

Makiya said the lesson of the incident was that US forces should cooperate with local opposition forces instead of trying to do everything alone. “I bring it as a cautionary tale of where we can go wrong,” he added.

An INC official in the Gulf said there had been a problem coordinating with the US units in the field and with the INC leadership, which moved to the southern town of Nassiriyah on Sunday under leader Ahmad Chalabi. “Those guys (US troops) are not used to dealing with Iraqis with arms who are their allies. It’s a learning process,” added the official, who asked not to be named.

Iraqi opposition groups, meanwhile, will meet in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriyah Saturday, a representative told a London press conference yesterday.

The opposition, though appeared at odds with each other, gave a firm message that they would not accept a new dictatorship in the country, and would not be subservient to the United States.

“We are not a colony,” said one.

“There will be a meeting in Nassiriyah on April 12 for all opposition parties and we hope all opposition groups will be represented,” said meeting organizer Ghassan Atiyyah.

Atiyyah did not say which opposition parties or how many representatives would be attending the gathering.