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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Allawi vows to retake remaining insurgent enclaves |
| 2004-10-06 |
| An upbeat Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi pledged "new plans" on Tuesday to crush insurgents before promised January elections as he met British Foreign Minister Jack Straw on a surprise visit here. As Allawi again expressed optimism following a lengthy international tour that government control could be restored nationwide in time for the polls to be organized, fresh unrest rocked rebel strongholds north and west from the capital. "We must have a suitable atmosphere for the conduct of election and the security situation requires exceptional" forces, Allawi told Iraq's interim parliament. "Therefore, the government has decided to establish new plans for achieving the security and for chasing those who are trying to prevent us from achieving this national job," he said. The hawkish premier, who spent two and half weeks abroad including talks with his top U.S. and British allies, did not elaborate on his plans. He stressed that his government was still maintaining its January target date for the elections, despite growing doubts that they will be able to go ahead on a credible basis nationwide. Allawi's comments came as U.S. and Iraqi troops mopped up the last redoubts of resistance in the Sunni Arab town of Samarra, stormed last Friday in one of the largest counter-insurgency operations since last year's U.S.-led invasion. The resort to force in a densely populated city of 250,000 people sparked criticism from Sunni leaders. The U.S. military said Tuesday that 127 insurgents and 20 civilians had been killed in the operation to retake Samarra, north of Baghdad. Twenty-four foreign fighters were captured, the military said, although it added that it had failed to capture any top suspects and was only just beginning the daunting task of winning over a largely hostile population. "It's not going to happen overnight," Colonel Randy Dragon, commander of U.S. forces in Samarra, told an AFP reporter on the scene. |
| Posted by:Mark Espinola |
| #1 What's next? Fallujah? Ramadi? or Sadr City? and when? My guess is Ramadi end of next week. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-10-06 10:22:07 PM |