Breaking from AP: Developments in Iraq
The Associated Press
Nov 5, 2004
Developments in Iraq on Friday:
- U.S. warplanes pounded Fallujah in what residents called the strongest attacks in months, as more than 10,000 American soldiers and Marines massed for an expected assault. Residents reached by telephone said the aircraft were striking targets in the central city market that had not been hit since April as well as neighborhoods in the north, south and east of Fallujah. There was no confirmation from U.S. officials.
- As pressure mounted on the guerrilla stronghold, the insurgents struck back, killing one U.S. soldier and wounding five in a rocket attack. Clashes were reported at other checkpoints around the city and in the east and north of Fallujah late in the day.
- Iraq's interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, warned that the "window is closing" to avert an assault on Fallujah, 40 miles west of the capital. Allawi must give the final go-ahead for the offensive, part of a campaign to curb the insurgency ahead of national elections planned for January.
- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned U.S.-led coalition forces in Iraq that new military campaigns in Fallujah and other insurgent strongholds could jeopardize upcoming elections.
- U.S. Cobra attack helicopters fired on insurgents operating an illegal checkpoint south of Baghdad, killing or wounding an "unknown number" of people, the military said.
- Allawi, meeting European Union leaders in Belgium, urged Europe to forge a "close and strategic partnership" with Iraq and called on NATO to step up plans to train 1,000 officers a year for the Iraqi military. EU leaders responded with a nearly $40 million offer to fund elections, including training for Iraqi vote monitors.
- The insurgent group al-Qaida in Iraq, led by terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, called for the release of the kidnapped executive of the CARE charity, Margaret Hassan, and promised to free her if she fell into their hands.
- Followers of al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility for the suicide attack that killed three British soldiers south of Baghdad on Thursday, according to a statement posted on an Islamist Web site.
- Nepal's Foreign Minister confirmed a Nepalese man abducted by gunmen Monday along with an American, a Filipino, and three Iraqis had been freed by his captors in Baghdad. Two Iraqi guards were released earlier in the week.
- Two Lebanese hostages held for more than a month were freed after a ransom was paid, one of the former hostages said Friday.
- A private security company, Global Risk Strategies, said a British contractor was killed in a suicide car bombing at Baghdad airport Wednesday that also injured several Iraqi civilians.
- Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili said his country will increase its troop contribution to the U.S.-led mission in Iraq.
- Saboteurs set off an explosion damaging a gas pipeline in northern Iraq, police and oil officials said.
AP-ES-11-05-04 1814EST
This story can be found at: ap.tbo.com |
