- Residents of the rebel-held city of Falluja in Iraq are
packing their bags and leaving town after one of the heaviest US bombardments
for weeks.
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- BBC News Online spoke by phone to a reporter in the city,
contacted by the BBC's Arabic Service, who gave the following account of
life there.
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- The mood in the city is grim.
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- It is start of Ramadan, but there is nowhere to celebrate
and no food to celebrate with.
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- Falluja's most popular kebab restaurant used to be the
place to go at the end of the day to break the Ramadan fast - but that
was bombed by the Americans this week.
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- Many families have used a lull in the bombing to leave
the city.
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- Fighters are engaged in skirmishes with US forces in
the eastern and southern areas. US positions are about half a kilometre
from Falluja.
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- No single militia force controls the whole city.
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- Different clans in the city have their own militias but
they all seem to be working together to fend off US forces.
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- The people of Falluja are very clannish - but they have
also always been very religious and right now faith is a stronger bond
than family.
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- Police and militias
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- Two elements have been running the affairs of the city
- the police force and local militias.
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- Relations between the two are good - I have seen policemen
on the streets chatting to the fighters.
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- In fact, relations between local fighters and police
have always been good - a deal struck some months ago means the police
are welcome in the city provided they do not take orders from the Americans.
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- There are more police on the streets than usual - possibly
to protect the property of residents who are leaving the city.
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- But the risk of looting is small - the local militias
have a reputation for being very tough with the criminals.
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- No foreign fighters
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- I am not aware of any foreign fighters in Falluja.
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- If there are any foreigners here, they have blended in
very well with the locals.
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- Foreigners used to frequent the city in the past, but
many of them were forced to leave under a deal the city's leaders struck
with the government.
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- Ninety-nine percent of the fighters here are Fallujans.
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- Local clan leaders are broadly opposed to any kind of
foreign presence in the city because they fear they may be spies.
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- Supplies exhausted
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- Hospitals have all but run out of supplies and most people
know this.
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- But still the injured are being taken there - just so
that they can be near the doctors and receive some comfort.
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- The Iraqi health ministry has not sent any extra supplies.
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- Food supplies are also running out. All shops are shut.
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- Some people who fled the city a few days ago have begun
returning because they ran out of food.
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- They are coming back even as more and more people are
trying to leave.
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- 'Not a sectarian issue'
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- The ordinary people of Falluja still want a peaceful
solution - but they knew war was inevitable when Prime Minister Iyad Allawi
issued his ultimatum earlier this week.
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- That's when they started stocking up on food.
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- The people believe they are being targeted because they
inflicted heavy casualties on US forces during the siege earlier this year.
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- They say the Americans are attacking them because of
wounded pride. They say they are motivated by revenge.
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- Most people in Falluja believe the Baghdad government
is divided into two camps.
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- They believe the president, Ghazi Yawer, is a Sunni and
heads the faction that wants to negotiate a solution to the crisis.
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- On the other side, they say, is Prime Minister Allawi,
a Shia, who believes military force is the only way ahead.
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- But many people in Falluja, though largely Sunni, dismiss
this.
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- They say Mr Allawi may be a Shia, but this is not why
he is at war with Falluja.
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- They think he simply gives the order to batter Falluja
because this is what the Americans want.
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- - Translation from Arabic by Jumbe Omari Jumbe of bbcarabic.com
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- © BBC MMIV http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3748966.stm
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