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NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND7115 South Boundary BoulevardMacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894   October 16, 2004Release Number: 04-10-43 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE BAYJI POWER PLANT BREATHES LIFE INTO IRAQ BAYJI, Iraq -- As part of its efforts to bolster security and the economy in Northern Iraq, the 1st Infantry Division partnered with civilian companies and the Army Corp of Engineers to repair the Bayji Power Plant complex. The facility, which is comprised of three power plants, once generated 1,300 megawatts of power. But after Operation Desert Storm in 1991, Iraqi officials were unable...

MOSUL, Iraq -- Expecting headaches and maybe worse from unruly factions of Kurds and Saddam Hussein loyalists, American soldiers began a campaign Wednesday to stabilize and administer this northern Iraq city. Instead, they were met with flowers and friendly greetings. No one can be sure it will last, but for now a task force of troops from the 101st Airborne and 4th Infantry divisions plans to impose order swiftly in Iraq's third largest city. That task force rushed here over the weekend after a small Marine force that had occupied the city's airport reported factional fighting among Kurds and sniping...

Kirkuk is liberated from Saddam's rule, but old ethnic tensions threaten to engulf it in new horrors, writes Ed O'Loughlin. Nobody knows how many people live in Kirkuk. The size of the population and its ethnic breakdown are so sensitive that every census since 1957 has been rigged or suppressed. Three races claim this town as their own - Arab, Turkoman and Kurd - and the oil fields on its fringe make it a prize worth having. Each of the three is armed, each is frightened of the others, and each believes it can call on outside forces. Don't let...

IRBIL, Iraq (AP) -- The main Kurdish factions in northern Iraq -- whose members usually disagree on almost everything -- issued a joint statement Friday with other regime opponents, urging everyday people across Iraq to defy Saddam Hussein. The call came as more than 1,200 newly arrived American troops bolstered an emerging northern front, marshaling Kurdish militiamen and U.S. special forces already on the ground. The statement issued by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Iraqi National Congress implored citizens throughout the country to rebel in "a holy mission of regime change." The Kurdish autonomous...