Coalition control crumbles in Iraq

Occupation troops, facing a June 30 deadline for restoring Iraqi self-rule, were locked in fierce fighting or forced to back off in cities west, east and south of the capital as well as the key southern port of Basra.

The scenes of combat were in stark contrast to images of confident US troops rolling through the capital a year ago on Friday, greeted by enthusiastic Iraqis as they toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein.

Perhaps just as significantly, the growing chaos and mounting death toll among US troops has sent support for the operation plummeting in the United States where President George Bush is facing a tough fight for re-election.

A six-day offensive that killed more than 300 Iraqis has failed to quell a determined opposition using hit-and-run tactics with small arms and rocket-propelled grenades, officers said.

The coalition announced on Friday a halt to its drive in the Sunni bastion of Fallujah, a constant theatre of conflict since Saddam's ouster, to pave the way for talks with the insurgents.

Armed militants seized control on Friday of the highway linking Fallujah with the mostly Sunni town of Abu Gharib to the east. An AFP correspondent saw hundreds of insurgents running along the road.

At the same time, US troops were sent into action to retake the city of Kut, southeast of Baghdad, two days after Ukrainian forces were driven out by militiamen loyal to radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr.

"The US army is in control of Kut," a US military spokesperson in Baghdad said. But a senior Iraqi police officer said that the Americans had faced rough going from Sadr's Mehdi militia.

"US troops regained controlled of Kut at 2am [10pm GMT on Thursday] but the forces met fierce resistance from the Mehdi Army militiamen and the battle lasted until 5am [1am GMT]," said Lieutenant Colonel Fahd Hassan.

Fighting also raged on Friday in the Shiite holy city of Karbala, south of the capital, with health officials reporting three Sadr loyalists and an Iranian woman killed.

The United States rushed help for beleaguered Bulgarian troops in Karbala, who were facing an ultimatum from the Sadr militia to quit the city ahead of a major religious celebration scheduled this weekend.

US officials have already acknowledged that the holy Shiite city of Najaf further south, where Sadr has reportedly taken refuge, has
slipped from the control of occupation forces.

The southern city of Nasiriyah was under the control of Iraqi police after Italian troops agreed to pull back in the wake of deadly clashes with Shiite militiamen on Tuesday that claimed 15 lives.

Iraqi police also patrolled Basra with British forces confined to their base as part of a deal struck with Sadr's men to halt the
violence.

Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, the commander of coalition ground troops in Iraq, said the coalition was still in full control
of Baghdad.

But in the capital's Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City, US forces evacuated police stations and the town hall after five days of clashes with radical militiamen, an AFP correspondent witnessed.

Sanchez said the coalition's objectives were "eliminating anti-coalition forces in Fallujah, destroying the Sadr militia in central and south provinces and continuing progress in rebuilding the infrastructure, the economy and the transition to Iraqi sovereignty."

But with daily reports of growing chaos in Iraq and a wave of kidnappings of civilians adding a new dimension, another key battlefield is the electorate in the United States ahead of the November 2 presidential election.

Just 40% of Americans approve of the way Bush is handling Iraq, according to a Pew Research poll released this week, a new low and down from 59% in January.

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