- BAGHDAD -- Leaflets handed
out on the streets of Baghdad yesterday suggested growing co-operation
between Sunni and Shia guerrillas amid signs that Iraqis are beginning
to unite against a common American foe.
-
- The handouts carried a "joint statement" by
the Mahdi militia, loyal to the radical Shia cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, and
the "Army of Fallujah", fighting US forces in the besieged Sunni
city 30 miles west of Baghdad. They were distributed in the capital's al-Ala'am
suburb and declared six districts of Baghdad a "military area".
People living locally were warned not to approach US forces or drive their
cars.
-
- The road linking the capital with the holy city of Najaf,
where Sadr is believed to be hiding, runs through this zone. The statement
gave warning that mujahideen guerrillas would lay ambushes for the "despicable
occupying forces" on this highway.
-
- "We want our patient people to stay away from the
occupying forces and not to drive civilian cars on this road for their
safety," said the leaflet. "God will grant victory to those who
resist the occupation."
-
- Guerrillas operating in the area where the handouts were
distributed are largely Sunni. They appear to be preparing to help Sadr
by obstructing the route that US forces would take in an attack on his
Najaf stronghold.
-
- About 20 Iraqis who received the leaflets as they queued
at a bakery murmured support for the gunmen. "God help them,"
said one man. "The Americans deserve it. We gained nothing from them."
-
- General Ricardo Sanchez, commander of the US-led coalition
forces in Iraq, said co-operation between Shia and Sunni guerrillas was
taking place at a "tactical level".
-
- "Calls for unity between Shia forces and Sunni forces
are not unexpected," he said. "It's clearly an attempt to take
advantage of the situation."
-
- A shaky truce was maintained in Fallujah yesterday, and
ceasefire talks were due to continue today.
-
- US forces launched a crackdown in the city a week ago
in response to the murder and mutilation of four Americans there. More
than 600 Iraqis have been killed in local fighting in recent days, according
to hospitals. Iraqi shock at the human toll transcends sectarian divisions,
and Shi'ites have organised aid convoys for the Sunni city.
-
- Fifteen lorries carrying food entered Fallujah during
yesterday's informal ceasefire. The convoy was sent from Sadr City, the
mainly Shia slum in east Baghdad.
-
- In the twin holy cities of Karbala and Najaf, tens of
thousands of pilgrims took part in the Shia festival of Arba'een, which
passed off peacefully. A vast crowd gathered around the golden dome of
the Imam Hussein shrine, marking the spot where the Prophet Mohammed's
grandson was murdered in AD 680.
-
- Last month, suicide bombers struck at this holy site
in Karbala as pilgrims gathered for an earlier Shia festival, killing 171
people. This atrocity sparked fears of a civil war between Iraq's Shia
majority and Sunni minority.
-
- Instead, the American offensive and the revolt declared
by Sadr have transformed the situation.
-
- The fighting in Fallujah has already led guerrillas in
western Baghdad to step up their attacks on US forces. Many of the people
in this area are from the same clans as Fallujah's 250,000 inhabitants.
-
- Numerous ambushes have taken place on the highway running
west from Baghdad, which serves as the main supply route for American forces
in Fallujah.
-
- The city was once the epicentre of the so-called Sunni
Triangle, where attacks on US forces were most intense. Now this war zone
has embraced the Shi'ites and expanded across central and southern Iraq.
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