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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Allawi demands Fallujah hard boyz surrender |
| 2004-11-09 |
| Prime Minister Iyad Allawi appealed to militants in Fallujah to lay down their weapons and allow Iraqi forces to enter the rebel enclave peacefully, as the army vowed to press ahead with the fight. Allawi also appointed a temporary military governor for the vast western Al-Anbar province which includes Fallujah and Ramadi as he sought to reach out to powerful Sunni Muslim tribal leaders in the restive area. He later met in Baghdad with a group of Sunni and Shiite clerics for dinner. "Iraqi military forces are ready to enter Fallujah peacefully and assert their authority after armed men and terrorists lay down their weapons," his spokesman Thaer al-Naqib said, reading a statement by Allawi. "A peaceful solution is possible even if the fighting is ongoing." Naqib said that Allawi was "determined to involve all elements of Iraqi society in the political process and to build a solid democratic regime." He said the powerful al-Dulaimi tribe in Anbar would declare its support for the government very soon. Allawi, a secular Shiite, was also in contact with the Anbar members of the large Al-Shamar tribe and they too were "responsive and very cooperative and declared their complete support of the government," added Naqib. Iraq 's President Ghazi al-Yawar, who has been critical in the past of the military option to deal with Fallujah, hails from the same tribe. Amid the talk, the US military closed in on the centre of Fallujah less than 24 hours after launching the massive operation to retake it from rebel hands, claiming it was now in control of one third of the city. Sunni and Shiite figures have condemned the assault, with one Sunni political party quitting the government in protest and the most influential religious Sunni group in Iraq calling for a boycott of the upcoming elections. The Sunni department chief at the religious affairs ministry asked Allawi to stop the fighting for four to five hours so wounded civilians could be evacuated. "You are responsible for their lives in front of God," Sheikh Adnan al-Dulaimi told Allawi during a dinner meeting with the prime minister. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #7 Allawi spends so much time appealing, begging and pleading,... I would disagree. Suggesting the jihadis surrender while killing them like rats at the dump shows both magnanimity and strength. Allawi has a tough job; a combination of coalition building, ass-kicking and jawing. I took the rumor that he was executing captured foreign terrs with his own hand, sadly untrue, to be a good sign. |
| Posted by: SteveS 2004-11-09 11:57:47 PM |
| #6 Allawi spends so much time appealing, begging and pleading, I can't see how he has any time for anything productive. |
| Posted by: smn 2004-11-09 10:06:27 PM |
| #5 If the terrorists surrender after swearing to fight to the death, they'll lose even more face. If we all think that they'll fight to the death, then it just becomes a good show for the media. |
| Posted by: Brutus 2004-11-09 8:17:52 PM |
| #4 personally i like Iyad Allawi 's style . He plays the arab market aswell as western , its whats needed in this hot bed .. Basically , reading between the lines , he's saying 'u all in Fallujah are fooked , so deal with it , cos I am , fuckwits ' and thats what arabs know best .... |
| Posted by: MacNails 2004-11-09 6:41:06 PM |
| #3 They can't surrender if they're all dead. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-11-09 5:22:09 PM |
| #2 I hear ya BAR 36 hours till talker time. It's the Arab way of war, never win, never lose. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-11-09 4:42:56 PM |
| #1 Prime Minister Iyad Allawi appealed to militants in Fallujah to lay down their weapons and allow Iraqi forces to enter the rebel enclave peacefully, as the army vowed to press ahead with the fight. Why is this guy doing this? Didn't Allawi himself say that he was convinced that the rebels couldn't be expected to be reasonable and lay down their weapons? Well the battle is on, so just carry it out to its logical conclusion. If rebels don't surrender on their own without having to be prompted, then they'll be ground down into a fine powder. Future "insurgents" might give a little more thought to their career paths, and it won't be necessary to expend precious dinars clothing or feeding the current crop - they'll be dead, requiring only a one-time burial expense. |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-11-09 3:53:53 PM |