US killings in Fallujah draw condemnation
Baghdad: Bloody turmoil reigned in Iraq yesterday, the first
anniversary of Saddam Hussain's fall, as US forces pounded Fallujah
where health officials counted 450 deaths and 1,000 injured this week.
Fierce fighting that convulsed Ramadi reached the western fringes of
Baghdad, where insurgents killed nine in an attack on a US fuel
convoy, and said they had seized four Italians and two Americans.
In Fallujah, residents buried their dead in a football stadium and
hundreds of women, children and elderly left the town as US Marines
paused in their assault yesterday.
US forces called a halt to offensive operations at noon to allow a
delegation from the city to meet with US commanders, let humanitarian
aid into the city and give city residents a chance to tend to their
dead.
But after 90 minutes, Marine commanders gave their troops permission
to resume offensive operations after forces on the ground complained
of being attacked.
The situation in Fallujah came in for scathing criticism in Iraq and
abroad.
Russia called on US-led forces in Iraq to refrain from
"disproportionate" use of force and halt their latest offensive in one
of Moscow's toughest statements on Iraq to date. "Russia calls for an
end to military operations and restraint," said the foreign ministry
in Moscow.
A member of the US-installed Governing Council, Adnan Pachachi,
slammed the US operation in Fallujah as "illegal and totally
unacceptable".
"We consider the action carried out by US forces as illegal and
totally unacceptable," he told the Dubai-based Arab satellite channel
Al Arabiya.
Jordan's King Abdullah II ordered his government to send urgent
humanitarian supplies to Fallujah saying the city was under "blockade,
killing and destruction," the official Petra news agency reported.
In London, UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the coalition faced
its "most serious" threat since the end of the war.
Meanwhile, US President George W. Bush discussed the situation with
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Polish and Salvadoran
presidents Aleksander Kwasniewski and Francisco Flores.
"The four leaders reaffirmed their commitment to a free and democratic
Iraq and defeating the minority extremist elements seeking to derail
the transition process through violence," said White House spokesman
Scott McClellan.
In Iraq interim Human Rights Minister Abdel Basit Turki, and member of
the Iraqi Governing Council's rotating presidency, Iyad Allawi, both
resigned yesterday without giving a reason.
Another member of the Governing Council, Abdel Karim Mahud Al
Mahamadawi, said he has suspended his participation in the council
after a meeting with Shiite leader Moqtada Al Sadr.
Clashes also erupted after Friday prayers in Baquba town, north of
Baghdad, as insurgents fought US troops and attacked buildings,
witnesses said.
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