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| Iraq-Jordan |
| US hunting for Zarqawi in Fallujah |
| 2005-01-26 |
| US and Iraqi forces were searching for Al Qaeda-linked fugitive Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in the former rebel stronghold of Falluja on Monday after hearing that he had entered the city ahead of the Jan. 30 election. "We have heard he entered Falluja in a six-car convoy. We hear lots of rumours but we are not dismissing this," Marine Captain Leonard Coleman told Reuters. "We are on the lookout for Zarqawi as we continue protecting the people of Falluja." An Iraqi officer said he and a group of Marines had searched for Zarqawi on Monday morning after receiving tips that he was traveling in a convoy that included a Mercedes and a BMW. "We have been searching houses with those types of cars in front of them. We have also been taking photographs of anyone driving BMWs and Mercedes for analysis and recording license plates," said the officer, who asked not to be named. A US Marine officer told his men to take the reports seriously and be on alert for attacks. Earlier this year he was believed to be hiding out in Falluja, a rebel stronghold to the west of Baghdad. Marines led an assault on the city in November to take it back from insurgents and in the hope of catching Zarqawi. But Zarqawi wasn't found and remains elusive. On Sunday, an audio tape was posted on the Internet, purportedly from Zarqawi, declaring "all-out war" on Iraq's elections in a warning intended to scare away voters six days before the poll. "If he is back in Falluja that means we can expect bombings on election day," said the Iraqi officer. "If he is back in Falluja that means the insurgents will be back. If he is back, he is here to destroy the elections." US and Iraqi forces have boosted security around the city, 50 km (30 miles) west of Baghdad, ahead of the vote, Iraq's first multi-party elections in half a century. City officials will set up polling stations for Falluja residents who have returned to the city since the November offensive, but their location will remain secret until just before voting because of fears of attack. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |