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| Sunday, 7 November 2004 |
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Civilians urged to flee targeted Falluja FALLUJA, Iraq, Saturday (Reuters) U.S. air and artillery strikes shook rebel-held Falluja late on Friday after troops, using leaflets and loudspeakers, urged Iraqi civilians to leave. U.N. chief Kofi Annan warned a widely predicted all-out offensive to take the city could threaten national elections due in January. The latest bombardment was the heaviest in months and shook the entire city, locals said. There was no immediate word on casualties but hospital officials said strikes the night before killed at least three people.Insurgents also killed one U.S. soldier by firing on positions near the city. U.S. troops sealed all roads to Falluja and urged women, children and non-fighting age men to flee, but said they would arrest any man under 45 trying to enter or leave the city. Most of the Sunni Muslim city's 300,000 people have already fled after weeks of intensive air and ground bombardments. A bloody offensive would further anger Iraqis and threaten the poll that has been set for Jan. 27, Annan warned in letters to U.S. President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. Allawi and his U.S.-led backers say Falluja is the centre of the insurgency in Iraq whose capture is crucial to ensuring the election goes ahead on time and is free and fair. Annan's comments highlight longstanding differences with Washington over how best to restore peace in Iraq. "The threat or actual use of force not only risks deepening the sense of alienation of certain communities, but would also reinforce perceptions among the Iraqi population of a continued military occupation," he wrote in the letters, seen by Reuters. |
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