- The leader of the largest tribe in Fallujah has declared
that the city's "no-go" status for Iraqi and American troops
must be brought to an end, by force if necessary.
-
- Hikmet al-Dulami claims to have reached an accord with
the leaders of three other influential tribes to force the expulsion of
foreign terrorist groups from the city.
-
- Fallujah is one of more than a dozen Iraqi cities where
insurgents hold sway, and America is keen to wrest back control in time
for the elections in January.
-
- On Friday, more than 2,000 Iraqi troops backed up by
3,000 soldiers from the United States 1st Infantry Division took part in
a surprise offensive on Samarra, north-west of Baghdad. More than 125 guerrillas
were killed and 88 captured as the troops seized the town hall, the main
mosque and other important sites. American military and Iraqi authorities
said yesterday that they controlled about 70 per cent of the city.
-
- Fallujah, a hotbed of Sunni insurgency, is believed to
be the headquarters of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian-born terrorist
behind many of the suicide bombings in Iraq who is holding the British
hostage Kenneth Bigley.
-
- Residents are increasingly angry that their city is being
targeted almost nightly by US air strikes on suspected Zarqawi hideouts.
At least seven people were killed and 13 wounded after the city in the
latest raid on Friday night.
-
- "The officials in Fallujah not associated with the
insurgents want it over and done with," said Gen Richard Myers, America's
senior commander in Iraq. "We know that they're talking with their
Iraqi counterparts, they're talking to the US military. They want their
city back and they want to get on with business."
-
- Kasim Doud, Iraq's national security adviser, told The
Telegraph that similar talks with leading figures preceded the strike on
Samarra. He said: "They said frankly, 'Please come and help us'."
-
- Mr al-Dulami said: "We have told the protectors
of the terrorists, including the leader of the resistance, that we will
expel them ourselves if the situation is not made normal. We have the weapons
and the followers to take the city back for Iraq and that is what we will
do."
-
- He said that if no deal was made to oust the foreign
fighters, Iraqi policemen and national guards from the Dulami, Jabouri,
Gharar and Janabi tribes would take part in an invasion of Fallujah, backed
by American firepower, before the January elections.
-
- The resistance vowed to fight any effort to reintroduce
Iraqi and American forces into Fallujah, believed by the US to be the base
for at least 2,000 foreign fighters. "These plans are the products
of agents for the Americans, who have taken money to plot against their
relatives and fellow townsmen," said Ibrahim al-Dulami, a senior lieutenant
of Sheikh Abdullah al-Janabi, the resistance leader. "We will fight
all attempts to invade Fallujah."
-
- In the lightning raid on Samarra, the troops took the
city on foot. The only way for The Telegraph to reach the city was by ambulance
travelling behind a two-mile convoy of American tanks, armoured personnel
carriers and heavy weaponry.
-
- Several districts were bitterly contested. As one insurgent
tried to aim a rocket launcher at a US convoy, he was shot from behind
by an American soldier. By late afternoon, however, the Kurdish-dominated
36th battalion of the Iraqi army captured the holy shrine of Imam Ali al-Hadi,
an important prize.
-
- Yesterday, a 7pm to 7am curfew was in effect and the
city seemed mostly calm, although sporadic gunfire was heard as the American
and Iraqi forces tackled pockets of resistance.
-
- Snipers on rooftops in the city centre fired at anybody
appearing in the streets below. Many bodies were strewn in the streets,
but could not be collected because of the gunfire. Only in outlying areas
did residents dare emerge from their homes to survey the damage.
-
- Damage to a power station meant that water and electricity
supplies were severed. The Iraqi defence minister, Hazem Shaalan, said
that up to $40 million (£22.2 million) was being set aside to help
reconstruct the city, and to pay compensation to residents.
-
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