- The U.S. called on anti-occupation fighters in Fallujah
on Saturday to join a bilateral cease-fire after failing all week in attempts
to take the city.
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- In Fallujah, a party of 35 Iraqi officials ? including
several Governing Council members ? entered the besieged city Saturday
to hold talks with local leaders. Council members have expressed increasing
anger over the U.S. siege, calling it a "mass punishment" for
200,000 residents.
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- The purpose of the talks was unclear. The US underlined
that the talks were going on with city officials who "want to see
Iraqi police back in the police stations, that want to see Iraqi Civil
Defense Corps members walking the streets of Fallujah, that want to see
the Iraqi army walking the streets of Fallujah. Not terrorists, not extremists,
not foreign fighters."
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- One Marine was killed Friday and another wounded in exchanges
of fire.
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- The death ? along with those of three Marines a day earlier
announced Friday ? brought the toll of U.S. troops killed across Iraq this
week to 46. The fighting has killed more than 460 Iraqis ? including more
than 280 in Fallujah, a hospital official said. At least 647 U.S. soldiers
have died in Iraq since the war began in March 2003.
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- During Friday's pause, a stream of cars headed out of
the city, carrying families trying to escape the violence. Marines allowed
women, children and the elder to leave, but turned back men.
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- Fallujah residents emerged from their homes for the first
time in days Friday, with many burying their dead in the city's football
stadium since cemeteries on the city's edge could not be reached.
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- Abdul-Karim Mahoud al-Mohammedawi, a Shiite on the Governing
Council, announced he was suspending his council seat until "the bleeding
stops in all Iraq." He also met Friday with al-Sadr, whom U.S. commanders
have vowed to capture.
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- A Sunni council member, Ghazi al-Yawer, said he would
quit if the Fallujah talks fell through.
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- http://www.aljazeera.com/cgi-bin/news_service/middle_east_full_story.asp?service_id=1372
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