The Hindu : International : U.S. offers truce to Fallujah fighters

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Apr 11, 2004

International

International

U.S. offers truce to Fallujah fighters

By Atul Aneja

A U.S. army tank burns after it was attacked on a Baghdad highway on Saturday. - AP

MANAMA, APRIL 10. Faced with fierce resistance, mounting casualties and desertions from an Iraqi civil administration that it has appointed, U.S. authorities have called for a formal ceasefire in the restive Sunni bastion of Fallujah.

Addressing a press conference this morning, a military spokesman announced the U.S. wanted to reach a ceasefire in Fallujah. "What we are seeking is a bilateral ceasefire on the battlefield so we can allow for discussions," Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmit said. A delegation headed by two members of the U.S.-appointed Governing Council for Iraq subsequently entered Fallujah and ceasefire talks were likely to be held in a mosque. Hakim al-Hosni, deputy head of the Iraqi Islamic Party, and Ghazi al-Yawar, a Sunni member of the 25-member Council are leading the delegation.

The U.S. call for a ceasefire comes after at least 42 American soldiers were killed in the last one week of fighting in Iraq. U.S. forces, which are in the midst of an offensive in Fallujah, are also battling a nationwide uprising in Iraq, led by a young Shia cleric, Moqtada Al Sadr.

Analysts point out that there are at least two other factors that have reinforced the U.S. intent to seek a ceasefire. First, the deaths of hundreds of Iraqi civilians has triggered a national outcry and driven cracks in the U.S.-appointed Iraqi civil administration.

Two members of the Governing Council have already resigned in the aftermath of Fallujah operations and a third is threatening to pull out.

Thousands of Iraqis, especially women and children, are now streaming out of Fallujah in the wake of the fighting, and their teeming presence along the highways is reinforcing anti-American sentiments.

Second, U.S. troops were not making much headway in Falujah as they were still stranded on the fringes of the city.

After warding off a U.S. offensive in the Shia-stronghold of Sadr City, fighters from the Mehdi Army, loyal to Mr. Al Sadr today attacked American troops in northwest Baghdad. Heavy fighting has been reported from this area.

Meanwhile, the Mehdi army announced a unilateral truce in Karbala in deference to the Shia festival of Arbain, which is being observed over the weekend.

After six days of clashes, there has been no let-up in the kidnapping of foreigners, belonging to countries that have sided with the U.S. occupation of Iraq. In footage aired by an Arab TV station on Saturday, a group describing itself as the "Brigades of the Hero Martyr Sheikh Ahmed Yassin," said it was holding 30 foreigners as hostage. It threatened to decapitate them unless the U.S. lifted its blockade over Fallujah. Italy has not officially confirmed that its nationals have been abducted, but the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, arrived on Saturday at Al Nassiriyah, where Italians have a military base.

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