Posted on 10/15/2004 1:16:19 PM PDT by kingattax
BAGHDAD, Iraq - U.S. warplanes pounded the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, where residents were marking the first day of the holy month of Ramadan on Friday, a day after city leaders suspended peace talks and rejected the Iraqi government's demands to turn over terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
U.S. troops detained Fallujah's top negotiator in the peace talks, witnesses said. Khaled al-Jumeili, an Islamic cleric, was arrested as he left a mosque after prayers in a village about 10 miles south of Fallujah, they said. There was no immediate U.S. comment.
In Baghdad, a car bomb blew up near a police station in a southwestern district, destroying two police vehicles. The U.S. military said 10 people were killed in the blast and four others wounded, though initial reports from the Iraqi Interior Ministry and hospitals said one dead and 11 wounded.
In a statement read at sermons in mosques in Baghdad and elsewhere, Fallujah's clerics called for civil disobedience across Iraq (news - web sites) if the Americans try to overrun the insurgent bastion. And if that doesn't halt an offensive, the clerics said they would proclaim a jihad, or holy war, against multinational forces "as well as those collaborating with them."
The clerics insisted al-Zarqawi was not in the city as U.S. and Iraqi commanders claim, saying his presence "is a lie just like the weapons of mass destruction lie."
"Al-Zarqawi has become the pretext for flattening civilians houses and killing innocent civilians," the statement said.
Al-Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad group has claimed responsibility for Thursday's twin bombings inside Baghdad's heavily guarded Green Zone — home to U.S. officials and the Iraqi leadership — which killed six people, including three American civilians, and wounded 27 others, mostly Iraqis. A fourth American was missing and presumed dead.
Two Iraqis were killed, at least one of them a suicide bomber. The identity of the other wasn't known. The group's claim, which could not be verified, was posted on a Web site known for its Islamic contents.
The bold, unprecedented attack, which witnesses and a senior Iraqi official said was carried out by suicide bombers, dramatized the militants' ability to penetrate the heart of the U.S.-Iraqi leadership even as authorities step up military operations to suppress Sunni Muslim insurgents in other parts of the country.
Elsewhere, several mortar rounds believed fired from Syria exploded Friday near the border town of Husaybah, said Marine Lt. Col. Chris Woodbridge. There were no casualties. Marines say mortar attacks from Syrian territory have increased in recent weeks though it's unclear who is launching them.
Fallujah, west of Baghdad, is considered the toughest stronghold of insurgents, who have controlled the city since the end of a bloody, three-week Marine siege in April.
Jets and artillery hammered Fallujah through the night and early Friday in an apparent effort to quash terrorists suspected of planning attacks timed with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began Friday.
Three people were killed and seven others injured during the night, according to Dr. Rafia Hiyad of Fallujah General Hospital. On Thursday, the hospital said at least five people were killed and 16 wounded.
By sundown Friday, witnesses reported a series of new airstrikes in the southern and eastern part of the city. One resident, Salah Abd, said Fallujah has been sealed off by American troops, who prevented residents from leaving the area.
U.S. officials, however, indicated the bombing was not a prelude to a major offensive into Fallujah that officials have said they might launch sometime this fall. In Washington, a senior military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the strikes were against specific targets, similar to airstrikes that have gone on for months against suspected militant hideouts.
Iraqi leaders have been in negotiations to restore government control to Fallujah, which fell under the domination of clerics and their armed mujahedeen followers after the end of the three-week Marine siege last April.
Allawi warned Wednesday that Fallujah must surrender al-Zarqawi and other foreign fighters or face military action. Talks broke down Thursday when city representatives rejected the "impossible condition" since even the Americans were unable to catch al-Zarqawi, said Abu Asaad, spokesman for the mujahedeen council of Fallujah.
The U.S. believes al-Zarqawi and his terrorist group are headquartered in Fallujah. Last year, the Ramadan period saw a surge in violence.
The U.S. command said a "large terrorist element" in the Fallujah area "has been planning to use the holy month of Ramadan for attacks."
During Ramadan, adherent Muslims abstain from food, drink, cigarettes and sex from sunrise to sunset. Most Iraqis began the Ramadan fast Friday morning, though some Shiites begin the following day.
Early Friday morning, U.S. planes hit two sites described as al-Zarqawi planning centers. Other targets included a weapons transload and storage facility, two safehouses, a meeting site and several illegal checkpoints used by the Zarqawi network, the U.S. military said.
Following Thursday's Green Zone attack, the U.S. military announced increased security measures in several areas, including the Green Zone and Baghdad airport. The Americans killed in the Green Zone bombing were employees of DynCorp security company.
The attack was the first time bombers had gotten inside the 4-square-mile compound — surrounded by concrete walls, razor wire, sandbag bunkers and guard posts — and detonated an explosive. A homemade bomb was found in the zone last week but was defused.
The U.S.-guarded enclave — home to about 10,000 Iraqis, government officials, foreign diplomats and military personnel — spreads along the banks of the Tigris River in the heart of the capital.
The zone is centered on Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s mammoth Republican Palace, and there are dozens of smaller palatial buildings, houses, office buildings and a hospital once used by high-ranking members of the old Baath Party regime.
Witnesses to the Thursday attack in Baghdad said two men were seen entering the Green Zone Cafe clutching large bags. The two men ordered tea and talked for about 20 minutes. Then one of the two walked out and hailed a taxi, the witnesses said. Minutes later a loud explosion rocked the compound.
The Green Zone is a regular target of insurgents. Mortar rounds are frequently fired at the compound, and there have also been a number of deadly car bombings at its gates.
On Thursday, four U.S. soldiers were killed in Baghdad and Ramadi, the U.S. command said.
...wedding presents from the U.S....
Happy Ramadama Ding Dong....
Oh the horror! The big bad U.S. isn't letting the poor little insurgents have their holy month!
Happy Ramadan-bombs away!
Happy Ramadan, murderous death cult.
Is it possible to remove the friendlies, the very young, the old, the infirm, and women from Fallujah and then absolutely flatten the place beyond all recognition?
Tell your moon god, Uncle Sam says "hello"
Happy Rahmahbomb!!
IIRC, during Ramadan can only eat while the sun is down. Out of respect, we will only drop bombs during night-time hours..... Oh, wait: we're already doing that. Dang.
"Is it possible to remove the friendlies, the very young, the old, the infirm, and women from Fallujah and then absolutely flatten the place beyond all recognition?"
I thought that was the plan earlier when we had the place surrounded. Search every person walking out of the city and incinerate everyone and everything that stays behind. I think that the progress in Fallujah is going to depend on how much time the politicians can spend not interfering.
S_B
P. S. Screw Ramamdan. Lots of our holidays are marred by having one us (or 4000 of us) murdered by you godless barbarians.
I thought we were allowing the followers of The Religion Of Peace a chance to rearm. Now that is just not fair.
Why haven't we turned their holy grounds into a glass bagel?
Its gotta piss them off that the moon actually flies an American flag.
HAPPY HUNTING!
Thanks for the heads-up. We'll just check for ourselves.
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