November 12, 2004

A MESSAGE TO CROWN PRINCE ABDULLAH IBN ABDUL AZIZ FROM THE IRAQI PRIME MINISTER. US AND IRAQI FORCES CLOSE TO GAINING FULL CONTROL OF FALLUJAH. ALLAWI URGES NATO TO PROVIDE MORE HELP IN ORDER TO STABILIZE THE SITUATION IN IRAQ. SYRIA CONTINUES RAISING THE BARRIER ON ITS BORDER WITH IRAQ. Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, received a message from Iraq's Prime Minister Dr. Iyad Allawi. The message was conveyed to the Crown Prince by Iraq's Foreign Minister Hushyar Zibari during a meeting at Crown Prince Abdullah's office at Al Safa palace in Makkah. During the meeting, Zibari conveyed to the Crown Prince the greetings of Allawi. On his part, Crown Prince Abdullah sent his greetings to Iraq'' Prime Minister. The meeting was attended by Dr. Nizar Ibn Obeid Madani, Assistant Foreign Minister, and Zibari's accompanying delegation. Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, received at Al Safa palace in Makkah today Iraq's Foreign Minister Hushyar Zibari and accompanying delegation. The audience was attended by Prince Dr. Faisal Ibn Mohammed Ibn Saud Ibn Abdul Aziz, Undersecretary of Al Baha Governorate; Prince Al Waleed Ibn Talal Ibn Abdul Aziz; Prince Abdul Aziz Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Advisor at the Crown Prince's Court; Prince Mansour Ibn Nassir Ibn Abdul Aziz; Prince Dr. Bandar Ibn Salman Ibn Mohammed Al Saud, Advisor at the Crown Prince's Court; Prince Major Turki Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz; Prince Saud Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz; Prince Mansour Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz; Prince Mohammed Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz; Prince Badr Ibn Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz; and a number of officials. Meanwhile Iraq's interim prime minister said "terrorists" are not interested in a peaceful settlement and announced that emergency measures would be imposed on the insurgent strongholds of Fallujah and Ramadi. In a press conference in Baghdad, Ayad Allawi said that Iraq's borders with Syria and Jordan will also be closed off and Baghdad's international airport would be shut down for 48 hours. "Once again, we have seen more criminal acts committed by these terrorists who continue to use Fallujah as a base for their operations...We have no other option but to take the necessary measures to protect Iraqi people from these killers and liberate Fallujah," he said. On the other hand US and Iraqi forces appeared close to gaining full control of Fallujah after heavy fighting in which the US and its allies lost 10 men and claimed to have killed over 300 insurgents. Moving from west, north and east of the city, the 6,500-strong US force backed by 2,000 Iraqi Special Forces, swept its way south toward the Euphrates to complete its control of the city. An Iraqi unit captured a district of the city that had become a no-go area after the insurgents seized it last April. There, the Iraqis found what one officer described as "a torture and slaughter house". "It was here that many hostages were interrogated, tortured, and then had their heads chopped off," he said. It was not clear whether or not the captured buildings, including two mosques and a deserted shopping center had served as the headquarters of the Jordanian terror mastermind Abu-Mussab Al-Zarqawi who is alleged to be leading the non-Iraqi Arab fighters in Iraq. But as Fallujah appeared to be falling to the US-Iraq force, insurgents appeared to be slipping out of the city to initiate attacks elsewhere. Insurgents were reported to have attacked and engaged US troops and Iraqi Army and police units in half a dozen localities in the so-called Sunni Triangle, including Baqubah, Ramadi, Samarra, Haditha, Dura, and Balad. There were also bomb and suicide attacks in Baghdad, Karbala and Mosul. In Baghdad, terrorists struck by kidnapping a cousin of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and two other of his relatives. Allawi, however, told the Arab television channel Al-Arabiya that he was determined to "clean Fallujah" which had become a running sore in Iraq's body. The terrorists called on Allawi to halt the Fallujah operations and release all Iraqi prisoners or risk having the hostages put to death in 48 hours "It is like hell here," a Fallujah resident said over a satellite telephone. "The Americans are moving with a sea of fire ahead of them." US commanders, however, said the operation, codenamed "Phantom Fury" was ahead of schedule, and that the coalition force was facing a much lighter resistance than expected. They also said that large numbers of insurgents had surrendered while many others, including non-Iraqi fighters, had been captured. In Baghdad, Charles Duleffer, head of the coalition's weapons inspection team, escaped a car bomb attack that wounded two of his bodyguards. The Fallujah insurgents appeared to have adopted the "melt away" tactic often used by guerrillas against superior forces in urban warfare. The tactic would have some insurgents to hide their weapons and weave into the non-combatant population. At the same time the elite fighters slip out of the area of conflict to regroup and attack elsewhere. Finally, some guerrillas allow themselves to be captured but pretend to be non-combatant civilians. Allawi had estimated the number of insurgents in Fallujah at around 3,000. But most reports indicated that the number might have been closer to 1,500 with large numbers of insurgents having slipped out of the city before the assault started. The number of civilians left in the city was also much smaller than the estimated 60,000. US and Iraqi military spokesmen claimed that civilian casualties had been much lighter than feared. Meanwhile two members of the Iraqi prime minister's family were abducted from their Baghdad home, his spokesman confirmed last Wednesday. Interim government spokesman Thair al-Naqeeb said in a statement that militants had snatched two relatives of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi from their home in the western Yarmouk neighborhood last Tuesday evening. Al-Naqeeb identified the missing as Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's 75-year-old cousin Ghazi Allawi, the cousin's wife and their daughter-in-law were seized near their home in Baghdad last Tuesday, Allawi's spokesman said. Ghazi Allawi has no political affiliation, and is not holding a government post," the statement said. The previously unknown Ansar Al-Jihad group said the hostages would die unless Allawi, head of the Iraqi agents, halted the US-led Fallujah offensive and freed prisoners. If the agent government does not meet our demands within 48 hours we will behead them, it said in a statement dated last Wednesday and posted on an Islamist Web site. Allawi's office said in a statement policy would not change: This is yet another criminal act by terrorists and will not thwart the determination of the government to combat terrorism. The three were seized a day after Allawi ordered the full-scale assault by US and Iraqi forces to rid Fallujah of rebels and suspected foreign Islamist fighters to pave the way for nationwide elections planned for January. Apparently losing ground in Fallujah, rebels staged several attacks across Iraq, some striking in their boldness. At least nine civilians were killed and 24 wounded in fighting in Baiji, 180 km (112 miles) north of Baghdad and there were running battles in the city of Mosul and parts of Baghdad. Gunmen stopped traffic and blocked a bridge in the west of the capital, where a 48-hour closure of Baghdad International Airport was extended. Seven people were killed in a bombing in Baghdad. Two roadside bombs just to the north killed six Iraqi national guards and, separately, a US soldier. A policeman was killed and two wounded in a similar attack near Samarra. A Turkish truck driver was killed by gunmen near Baiji. The US military said 11 American troops and two Iraqis had been killed at Fallujah since 10,000 US soldiers and Marines and 2,000 Iraqi troops launched the offensive last Monday night. It said the city mayor's office had been captured Key bridges, civic buildings, mosques and weapons caches had also been seized. The firepower raining down on Fallujah must have caused civilian casualties, but no clear figures have emerged. The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was very worried about the plight of the wounded in Fallujah. An ICRC spokesman said thousands of civilian fugitives from Fallujah needed water, food, medical care and shelter. Local people say children have been among those killed. US-led military operations are proceeding well in Fallujah, US President George W. Bush said. Bush said he met last Wednesday with the military ground commander, Army General George Casey. He said things are going well in Fallujah, and they are making very good progress of securing that country, said Bush. Local government authorities imposed a curfew on the flashpoint city of Mosul in northern Iraq last Wednesday, the fourth city in three days to receive such an order. A curfew starts at 4:00 P.M. (1300 GMT). Until further notice no one can cross bridges, those who do will be shot and killed, the Nineveh governor s office warned in a statement broadcast on local television and radio. Governor Duraid Khasmula later said the curfew would last until 6:00 A.M. (0300 GMT) on Friday and that all government offices and public institutions would remain closed. Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi declared martial law last Sunday and said a U.S.-led military offensive against the rebel-held city of Fallujah could not be delayed much longer. Insurgents have stepped up attacks against U.S.-led forces and Iraqi police to show their muscle before the U.S. offensive on Fallujah and police said gunmen killed 22 policemen in three attacks. Allawi was doing all he could to find a peaceful solution, his spokesman Thair al-Naqib said. "He still hopes that it may be possible to avoid a major military confrontation in Fallujah ... He is, however, not optimistic," Naqib said. Allawi declared a 60-day state of emergency across Iraq, except the region of Kurdistan, to ensure security before elections scheduled for Jan. 27. "This will send a very powerful message that we are serious," Allawi told reporters. "We want to secure the country so elections can be done in a peaceful way and the Iraqi people can participate in the elections freely, without intimidation by terrorists and by forces who are trying to wreck the political process in Iraq." Giving itself power to declare emergency rule, equivalent to martial law, was one of the first things the government did after replacing the U.S.-led administration on June 28. But this is the first time it has used the power. Allawi did not say how he would use the new powers, but emergency rule gives the government the right to impose curfews, set up checkpoints, and search and detain suspects. U.S. Marines said American forces had taken control last Wednesday of 70 percent of Fallujah in the third day of a major offensive to retake the insurgent stronghold. Maj. Francis Piccoli, of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, said enemy fighters were bottled up in a strip of the city flanking the major east-west highway that splits Fallujah. Army and Marine units had pushed south through the highway overnight, taking control of more than two-thirds of the rebel bastion, Piccoli said. "There's going to be a movement in those areas. The heart of the city is what's in focus now," he said. Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, making fresh use of emergency powers he activated last Sunday, imposed a night curfew on Baghdad for an indefinite period. The curfew will hold from 10:30 p.m. (1930 GMT) to 4 a.m. (0100 GMT) from Tuesday night. The military has given no figures for U.S. casualties since the assault on Fallujah began. There has also been no word on the number of civilian casualties. Residents said a U.S. air strike hit a clinic in a central district, killing medical staff and patients. Dr. Iyad Allawi the interim Prime Minister of Iraq. A prominent Iraqi-British neurologist and Iraqi exile political activist, the Shia Muslim became a member of the Iraq Interim Governing Council, which was created following the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He became Iraq's first head of government since Saddam Hussein when the council dissolved on June 1, 2004 and named him Prime Minister of the Iraq interim government. Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi secured cash and pledges of help from EU leaders despite having raised hackles by describing states that opposed the U.S.-led war to oust Saddam Hussein as "spectators." The EU pledged new funds to support elections due in January. But Allawi's visit to Brussels was clouded by anger at his jibe and by President Jacques Chirac's early departure from the summit in what some diplomats said was a snub to Allawi. "I never said Europe was a spectator," Allawi told a news briefing referring to remarks made in Rome alongside Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, a strong backer of the war. "Europe stood with us and Europe is standing with us now ... There is a difference of views among European countries but we want to create a constructive dialogue to create stability and peace in the region and that is what we intend to do," he said. But several leaders said his comment was unhelpful as the bloc, deeply divided over President Bush invasion of Iraq seeks a fresh start with Washington and looks at getting more involved in rebuilding the country. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder called Allawi's comment "a slip of the tongue" and said he would remind him Germany was training Iraqi police and military in the United Arab Emirates and had offered to write off a substantial amount of Iraqi debt. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, along with Paris and Berlin a critic of the war, told reporters: "I don't like the expression 'spectator states' at all." The new EU aid package is relatively small, consisting of an extra 16.5 million euros ($21 million) cash for elections due in January, support for developing the justice system and help for a U.N. protection force for the elections. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the four European states along with Britain who had committed troops to Iraq told Allawi they were determined to stay the course. "The five heads of government from contributor forces to the MNF (Multinational Force) who spoke, all were very firm about their commitment to keeping their troops there for as long as it took," he told a news conference. Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka, whose country has 2,500 troops in Iraq, said any withdrawal would be "catastrophic." "Even talking about possible pull-out is harmful for Iraq ... as it encourages terrorists," he told reporters. Hungary and the Netherlands are looking to keep troops in Iraq through to March. French President Jacques Chirac, the most outspoken opponent of the Iraq invasion, skipped the meeting with Allawi to fly to the United Arab Emirates but insisted it was no snub. "There is no problem naturally with the Iraqi authorities," Chirac told a news conference, adding he had invited Iraqi President Ghazi Yawar to Paris and he had accepted. But diplomats said Chirac's early exit was a clear snub and disclosed that France had managed to get a phrase explicitly welcoming Allawi deleted from the draft summit statement. Allawi also made his first visit to NATO headquarters to ask for more help from the 26-member alliance. France and Germany have insisted NATO should have no combat role in Iraq but agreed earlier this year it could send a small training mission there. "The more help NATO can give us, the quicker the Iraqi forces will develop," the interim prime minister told NATO ambassadors at alliance headquarters. "Time is of the essence. There is a real battle in Iraq today. Delays measured even in hours and days can cost lives." NATO is still finalising a plan to expand the mission into an officer training academy just outside Baghdad. On the other hand the Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa on Tuesday urged applying international law to end the current crisis in the Iraqi city of Fallujah. Moussa, in statements before leaving for Madrid on a visit to Spain during which he will meet with the Spanish King Juan Carlos and other senior officials, added that the humanitarian situation in Fallujah, and Iraq at large, was deteriorating. He expressed worries about the suffering of the Iraqi civilians in Fallujah. Moussa underlined the necessity of providing full protection for them. Meantime Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Iraq's Ambassador to the United Nations, Samir Shakir Mahmood Sumaidaie, met today in New York for talks on the situation in Fallujah as well as preparations for elections next January. According to a readout of their meeting provided by Mr. Annan's spokesman, the two "had a serious, yet friendly, discussion, with both agreeing on the importance of establishing a relationship based on mutual understanding." Asked if the Secretary-General had a reaction to the military offensive in Fallujah following his warning last week about such a move, spokesman Fred Eckhard noted that Mr. Annan had spoken about the topic over the weekend with US President George W. Bush in what was essentially a courtesy call following the President's election victory. "The President respects the Secretary-General's position," Mr. Eckhard said, adding that the Secretary-General had previously commented that sometimes force is necessary. "But Mr. Annan was merely warning that the use of force could destabilize the country at a critical point in the preparation for the elections." As for comments from the European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, that January elections might not be possible, the spokesman said the timing of elections was a call for the Iraqi Interim Government to make. On the other hand An official in the Syrian customs said that Iraq blocked one of the border crossing with Syria. The official explained that the West Iraq's authorities blocked Tanaf crossing situated 280 Km to the northern east of Damascus. This crossing is known in Iraq as al- Waleed crossing. Very often the Iraqi authorities block one or more crossing of the border crossings with Syria, but usually abstain from giving justifications to that measure saying that the closure is a procedural measure. Meanwhile bulldozers shove sand into a 4-meter-high barrier along Syria's remote border with Iraq, where authorities say round-the-clock patrols and new observation posts are stopping foreign fighters flowing into Iraq. "Be careful, they will shoot!" warned Lt Col Ali Ahmed al-Shummari, the officer in charge of the Abu Kamal border crossing area-facing al-Qaim, Iraq.