Fallujah Assaulted: 17 Killed by Mortars in Iraq
Pakistan Times Monitoring Desk

FALLUJAH (Iraq): Iraq's volatile city of Fallujah braced for an all-out assault Monday after another punishing day of US air raids, while 17 Iraqis were killed when mortars aimed at a US base in northern Iraq hit a local hostel.

The deputy governor of Baghdad was gunned down in an ambush on his way to work in the latest targeted killing of a high-profile Iraqi figure.

Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who has vowed restore law and order to the violence-wracked country ahead of January elections, issued another ultimatum to Fallujah although divisions emerged at the top over how to handle the standoff.

In a first major step towards the landmark poll, hundreds of registration centres for voters and candidates were due to open around Iraq on Monday.

The Hotspots

Time is fast running out for the people of Fallujah and other hotspots such as neighbouring Ramadi as US and Iraqi troops intensify a campaign to crush pockets of insurgency ahead of the vote.

One US marine was killed and four others wounded during a day of clashes around Ramadi, to the west of Fallujah on Sunday, the military said.

The precise cause of the death was not given, but three US marines were injured in a roadside bomb blast as their convoy passed through the Sunni Muslim bastion.

Bombing

At the same time, US war planes bombed insurgent targets in Fallujah. "There were close air support missions for troops on the ground particularly in support of the 1st Marines Regiment," a military spokesman said.

Allawi, soon to depart on a trip to Europe, issued an ultimatum to residents of Fallujah on Sunday to surrender insurgents believed to be residing within its walls or face a US-Iraqi military assault.

"We have entered the final phase to solve the Fallujah problem," Allawi told a news conference in Baghdad. "If we cannot solve it peacefully, I have no choice but to take military action. I will do so with a heavy heart."

Three Conditions

The prime minister has offered three conditions that would spare Fallujah and other rebel cities from military action.

These include the exit of foreign fighters and insurgents, the handover of heavy and medium-sized weapons and allowing the government to begin the process of reconstruction in these cities.

But Iraqi President Ghazi al-Yawar, on a landmark visit to Kuwait, declared his opposition to an assault on Fallujah, in an interview published Monday.

"I totally differ with those who believe there is a need for a military solution to the (Fallujah) issue," Yawar said, describing the US-led coalition's managing of the crisis as wrong and instead calling for continued dialogue.

"This will encourage neutral citizens to stop sympathizing with the rebels, most of whom are Saddam Hussein loyalists and forces which came from outside Iraq," Yawar said.

Negative Role in Iraq

He also accused neighbouring Iran of playing a "negative role in Iraq" and blamed it for assassination of more than 18 Iraqi intelligence officers.

Since October 14, US troops have encircled Fallujah, where the military has repeatedly launched air strikes and some limited ground incursions. They are also doubling their troop strength to 2,000 in Ramadi.

Despite the strength and size of the US-led military in Iraq, an insurgency that flared up in the aftermath of last year's invasion has unleashed daily bombings and mortar attacks against army targets.

Badly aimed Strike

In a badly aimed strike late Sunday, 17 Iraqis were killed and eight wounded when two mortars, apparently aimed at a US base in the northern city of Tikrit, slammed into a hostel used by workers at a local factory.

Funerals were due to take place in the town on Monday.

Members of the US-backed government and other figures of Iraqi authority are also favourite targets in the insurgency.

Latest Assassination

In the latest assassination, a deputy Baghdad governor, Hassam Kamel Abdel Fattah, was shot dead by unknown assailants as he was driving to work, Iraq's interior ministry said. Two bodyguards were also injured.

Foreign civilians have similarly been caught in the violence as militants use hostages as political weapons to undermine the US-led military coalition and interim government.

Shosei Koda became the first Japanese hostage at the weekend to be executed in Iraq after Tokyo refused to bow to his kidnappers' demands to pull its 550 troops from the country.

In a separate crisis, a Polish woman held hostage by a militant group in Iraq has pleaded for the withdrawal of Polish troops and the release of women prisoners to save her life.●