Americans want negotiations to fail: Fallujah delegation member

He pointed out that continuing air bombing of residential areas and the killing of the innocent showed that they were not serious in making the negotiations a success.

"If the government represents sovereignty and has its own will, then the negotiations would succeed, but if the government is just a front for the Americans, the negotiations would certainly fail," he said.

He said that the delegation wanted to stop bloodshed and restoresecurity and stability in the city.

Sheikh Khalid Al Jumaily, head of the Fallujah delegation announced on Tuesday that the first agreement was completed, and the Iraqi government would submit it to American forces for approval. The US military launches almost daily air raids on suspect hideouts of insurgents in Fallujah, but local residents claim that victims are often ordinary civilians.

On Wednesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi told Fallujah to give up the country's most wanted man, Jordanian-born Zarqawi, or face a military operation.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-10/15/content_2092011.htm

US planes carried out multiple raids overnight against what the military termed hideouts of Iraq's most wanted man Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, medics reported at least five killed and 16 wounded, and efforts to mediate a truce between the government and rebels collapsed.

"In total, the raids have resulted in five people dead and 16 wounded," Saleh Khamis al-Issawi said from the hospital.

The US military said the aircraft hit a "safe" house in the north central part of the city belonging to a high-level Zarqawi associate.

"Multi-National Force-Iraq struck a key planning centre for Zarqawi network meetings and gatherings, hitting a safe house belonging to a high-level Abu Musab al-Zarqawi associate," said a statement.

The strike produced secondary explosions in the area, said the military.

Early today residents reported hearing loud explosions, but there was no immediate confirmation from the military if raids had resumed.

Mosques were broadcasting readings from the Koran to coincide with the start of Ramadan, the holy month of prayers and fasting, today.

Coinciding with the strikes, a delegation of city elders and leaders pulled out from talks with the government, protesting against warnings by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi that the city would be invaded if it did not hand over Zarqawi and his supporters.

"We were taken aback by Allawi's comments ... since there was no mention of Zarqawi during the talks," said one delegate, who gave his name as Abu Ahmed.

"Allawi and his government will bear the responsibility of the spilling of Muslim blood in Fallujah."

He said delegates were close to reaching a breakthrough in talks that would allow Iraqi forces to come back into the city before Mr Allawi imposed "impossible conditions".

"Basically he was telling us that he did not want to negotiate, so we suspended the talks from our end," he said.

Mr Allawi yesterday demanded that Fallujah turn over Zarqawi or face a military invasion as he sought to regain the city from the grip of militants ahead of national elections in January.

In Baghdad, the government's national security adviser Kassem Daoud said he hoped the delegates could mediate a truce and rid the city of foreign fighters to avert a military showdown.

"I hope they kick them out, otherwise we are preparing to crush them," he told reporters.

In initial reports of casualties from the air strikes, doctors and residents said at least three people had been killed and eight wounded, while two houses, one of which was empty, were destroyed.

The strike in the Jubail area on the southwest side of Fallujah destroyed the home of Haraj Rashid, said his relative Amer Hamid adding that there were casualties under the rubble.

Shortly after the attack,the main hospital received six wounded people from the Jubail strike, according to Ghassan Alussi, while Ali Hayad said a passer-by was wounded when US aircraft struck an empty house in Jolan district.

The US military confirmed the raids, saying that both targeted sites were strongholds of al-Qaeda's main operative in Iraq and that "reliable intelligence sources confirmed several Zarqawi terrorists were operating in the facilities at the time of the strike".

It said one target in southern Fallujah was a weapons storage site and the other, in Jolan, a "terrorist network safe house".

The military statement also said local informants had reported several uninjured individuals from one of the targeted locations had fled to the Fallujah General Hospital and some were "suspected of carrying weapons".

There was no independent confirmation.

The US military carries out almost daily air raids on Fallujah, insisting they are "precision strikes". Doctors and residents in the town say the dead and wounded are often ordinary civilians, and include women and children.

US forces mounted a major operation in April to try to take the town but failed after fierce fighting.

The last raid on Fallujah two days ago, against what the US military said were two suspected Zarqawi spots, killed four people and wounded six. One of the strikes destroyed a popular restaurant.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,11079627%255E1702,00.html

A delegation from the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah suspended peace talks with the government Thursday because of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's ``impossible'' demand to hand over terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a city spokesman said.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4551258,00.html