US troops pull back from Falluja

A new 1,000-strong local Iraqi force called the Falluja Protective Army, which is to be led by a former general of Saddam Hussein, is expected to move into the city, but the details of the siege-ending deal are still being worked out.

Today, as troops began clearing rolls of razor wire from the main road into Falluja, US commanders met again with representatives of the city, which is 30 miles west of Baghdad.

A marine officer in Iraq said last night that a deal had been reached in principle but "fine points" needed to be fixed.

Despite the negotiations, skirmishes have continued between marines and insurgents, who have clashed repeatedly in the north of the city since Monday. US warplanes dropped three bombs yesterday in support of ground troops.

Marines encircled the city of 200,000 on April 5. Hospital officials said more than 600 Iraqis, many of them civilians, have been killed in the fighting along with eight marines. But the figures were disputed by Iraq's health ministry and an exact toll was not known.

But there were new hopes of a breakthrough. The commander of the proposed new Iraqi force met with tribal leaders in a mosque this morning. He wore his uniform from the former Iraqi military with his general's insignia.

Captain Ziad Khalas of the Iraqi security forces identified the proposed commander as Major General Jassim Mohammed Saleh, a veteran of Saddam's republican guard.

Maj Gen Saleh later left the city in a convoy for a meeting with US commanders. Captain Khalas said Iraqi police and paramilitary forces expected to enter the city later today.

The Falluja force is expected to include former Iraqi police and soldiers, including gunmen who fought against the Americans.

Some of the ex-soldiers were said to be disgruntled after losing their jobs when the US disbanded the old Iraqi army.

But the new force will not include "hardcore" insurgents or Islamic militants holed up in the city, a marine officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Many of the insurgents in Falluja are believed to be former members of Saddam's regime or military.

In an apparent move to help the Falluja negotiations, US authorities yesterday released the imam of the city's main mosque. Sheik Jamal Shaker Nazzal, an outspoken opponent of the US occupation, was arrested in October.

One obstacle in the talks, however, could be a US demand for insurgents to turn over those responsible for the killing and mutilation of four American contract workers on March 31. Their bodies were burned and dragged through the streets.

Winning assurances that the perpetrators will be turned over remains a US goal in the Falluja talks. It is unclear whether it will be achieved: at one stage the insurgents responded with a reciprocal demand that US forces and commanders be handed over for the deaths of Iraqis in the city during the siege.

Marines on the south side of the city began packing up gear yesterday, preparing to withdraw, and broke down earthen security barriers. A marine said today that engineers would remove the large cement blocks that block the main road into the city.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1206984,00.html