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Iraq-Jordan
U.S. Orders Halt to Falluja Operations, but Situation Unclear
2004-04-09
What’s going on?
A halt to Marine operations in Falluja was announced today by the top American administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer III, so that talks could be held with a delegation of sheiks and the city’s residents could collect their dead and wounded. But the situation on the ground was far from clear. Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne, commander of the First Battalion, Fifth Marine Regiment, told news agencies that his forces were continuing to respond to insurgent attacks. "I would not describe this as a cease-fire," The Associated Press quoted the colonel as saying. "We are still aggressively defending our positions. However we have ceased offensive operations for now."
"It's more like a hudna, I guess..."
However, the coalition’s deputy director of operations, Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt, insisted that a unilateral cease-fire was in force. "We suspended unilaterally the operation at 12 noon," the general told CNN. At the same time, a live report from Falluja by Al Jazeera television monitored in Baghdad showed a helicopter releasing some kind of fire on a part of the city called Hay Jolan. The Arab station also showed Iraqi medics and residents in the city gathering up dead bodies and wounded people and quoted the medics as saying that until now there had been no chance to collect the victims of the four days of heavy fighting. A doctor at one of the city’s hospitals, Rasi al-Esawi, said that 141 bodies had been collected at his medical center since the fighting started, with 30 collected just today. The live coverage on Al Jazeera showed convoys of Iraqi cars coming into Falluja. The station, monitored in Baghdad, also reported shelling from American tanks, but the reports could not be verified. The delegation from Falluja was reported by news agencies to be meeting with Marine commanders at their base outside the city. The purpose of the talks was not immediately announced.

Earlier today, American-led troops retook the eastern town of Kut two days after Ukrainian forces withdrew following clashes with Shiite militiamen loyal to the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, The A.P. reported. Mr. Sadr’s followers launched an uprising this week, battling American-led forces in Shiite areas across Iraq. One Ukrainian soldier was killed this week in Kut. Shiite militiamen still control the center of the holy city of Najaf, where Mr. Sadr, for whom an arrest warrant has been issued, is thought to be holed up. In Karbala, overnight clashes between Shiite fighters and Polish and Bulgarian troops killed 15 Iraqis, and 6 Iranian pilgrims were shot dead near a Polish checkpoint between Babel and Kerbala, the Iraqi police said.
Half a dozen Iranian "pilgrims," huh?
In other developments, Mr. Bremer named two members of the Governing Council to key posts. Samir Sumaidy, a Sunni independent, becomes interior minister, replacing Nouri Badran, a Shiite, who resigned on Thursday. In addition, Mowaffak al-Rubaie, a Shiite independent, takes on the newly created role of national security adviser.
Posted by:tipper

#5  Relax - this is a WWII-style pause to let civilians leave. From WaPo:

On the ground in Fallujah, Marine Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne, the commander of the U.S. Marine unit, told reporters that offensive operations were being suspended to allow women and children -- and men too old to fight -- to leave the battered city en masse in response to pleas from city religious leaders.

"We are simply affording them the chance to leave the city," he said, reporting that vehicles carrying civilians were already moving onto the highways leading out of town.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2004-04-09 2:00:12 PM  

#4  they had dogs sniff the vehicles, apparently.
Posted by: Liberalhawk   2004-04-09 1:38:39 PM  

#3  Finally civilians are fleeing the city. Anyone with a lick of sense would have left right after the contractors were lynched last week. Reports that the Marines are allowing supplies into the city are hard to believe, unless they are planting GPS transponders and bugging equipment on each & every vehicle they let into the city.
Posted by: Tresho   2004-04-09 1:37:19 PM  

#2  This story is OBE (overcome by events) - the ceasefire ended 90 minutes later when the Fallujan fighters rejected any agreement, truce or discussion.

Civilians are fleeing the city.
Posted by: rkb   2004-04-09 12:19:33 PM  

#1  A halt to Marine operations in Falluja was announced today by the top American administrator in Iraq, L. Paul Bremer III, so that talks could be held with a delegation of sheiks and the city’s residents could collect their dead and wounded.

It appears that Bremer is trying his damned best to piss away any chances of proving that the U.S. is dead serious where insurgents are concerned.

"If you even consider negotiations or appeasement, then we are all doomed."

-- Healing Iraq blog
Posted by: Bomb-a-rama   2004-04-09 11:22:29 AM  

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