Foreigners who came to fight for Saddam turn guns on Shias

Sectarian violence

"What is your first name?" the young man with blood on his face was asked. "Saddam," came the answer. What is your family name? Again: "Saddam." Who do you fight for? "Saddam."

The man being questioned, with his arms tied behind his back, admitted to being a Fedayeen, but he refused to say which country he was from. His captors, Shia Muslim militia in Saddam City, thought his accent was that of a Yemeni. In the past 10 days, they claimed, they had also captured Algerians, Palestinians and Pakistanis – Sunni Muslim "Wahabi terrorists" sent to carry out murderous sectarian attacks.

A vicious secret war is taking place in Saddam City, the vast Shia slum just 20 minutes' drive from the centre of Baghdad. Local people say they are the victims of the "Wahabis", Sunnis who came to fight for Saddam Hussein against the Americans, and have now turned their guns on them.

US officials in Baghdad acknowledge privately that Sunni fighters, financed from Saudi Arabia, are in Iraq and have been attacking Shia areas. On the other side, they say, Iranians are backing Shias. The Americans, however, do not appear to be doing anything about this emerging civil war. Not one soldier or tank could be found in Saddam City.

The Fedayeen caught by the Shias allegedly took part in an indiscriminate drive-by shooting at a market. Semi-automatic rifles had been fired into the crowd. A white pick-up truck, windscreen shattered, around a dozen bullet holes in the bodywork, had crashed into a wall. It was one of two vehicles used; the other one got away. Two more Fedayeen had run off, and Shia militiamen were hunting them in the narrow alleyways and tenement buildings.

One man had died in the attack. Four others, including an 11-year-old boy, had been injured. They had all been taken to a hospital which, until last week, used to be called Saddam General. There were others with minor injuries. Hamid Abdullah, 68, showed a neck wound, which he said was a bullet graze, although it could just as easily been caused by flying glass.

"These people have been sent by shaitan (Satan) to torment us," he shouted, waving his finger at the Fedayeen. "They come and kill women, children, even old persons like me. They have no mercy."

Karim Makles Hassan, a Shia militiaman, picked up an AK-47 and prodded the captive in the chest with it. "This is what the Wahabi used in this offence, we saw him firing," he said. "We have caught at least 35 of them. In the past we have given them to the Americans. They have kept a few, but we know they have let the others go. Now we must deal with these prisoners ourselves."

The Fedayeen was slightly-built, just over medium height with a wispy beard and a deep cut on the side of his head. He wore a torn camouflage jacket and black jeans. His boots had been removed. He kept licking his lips, and despite the warmth of the evening, he was shaking. "He has been giving his name as Saddam because the Wahabis say they are proud to fight for him," said Hassan. "But we tell him that is just an excuse, Saddam has gone, their real purpose is to attack us Shias."

The Fedayeen prisoners were held at the al-Mohsin mosque. Although the official Shia line was that they were all given over to the Americans, one of the militiamen disclosed that some have been sent off to the Shia holy city of Najaf.

Imam Saied Hassan Naji, imprisoned by the Iraqi regime but freed under an amnesty by Saddam at the end of last year, believes he may be on the Wahabi death list. "They have specifically targeted religious people and their homes," he said. "We do not know who are controlling these people, but the Americans do not stop them coming in and attacking us."

A little later, shots rang out in the distance. "Maybe we have found the others of the Fedayeen," said Karim Makles Hassan with a laugh. The young prisoner began to shake more than ever.