Allawi threatens rebel-held Fallujah with force

Mr. Allawi threatened military action against Fallujah if residents don't surrender Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. "If Zarqawi and his group are not handed over to us, we are ready for major operations in Fallujah," Allawi told Iraq's interim national council. He said he hoped the negotiators would convince resistance fighters to give up the fight. "I hope they will respond. If they don't then we will have to use force," he said.

10/12/04 Duelfer report: Hussein planned on postwar insurgency 10/08/04 UN oil-for-food: Hussein's 'piggy bank' 10/07/04 Terrorism and the 'Net

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The Washington Post reports that there is a growing split between foreign (mostly Arab) jihadists and local insurgents in Fallujah. Increased reports of imminent raids from the US military and Iraqi forces ahead of the elections scheduled for January have prompted some local fighters to negotiate. But foreign fighters are pressing to continue attacks.

The Post reports that the disputes have "spilled over into harsh words and sporadic violence, with Fallujans killing at least five foreign Arabs in recent weeks, according to witnesses."

US and Iraqi authorities together have insisted that if Fallujah is to avoid an all-out assault aimed at regaining control of the city, foreign fighters must be ejected. Several local leaders of the insurgency say they, too, want to expel the foreigners, whom they scorn as terrorists. They heap particular contempt on Abu Musab Zarqawi, the Jordanian whose Monotheism [Tawhid] and Jihad group has asserted responsibility for many of the deadliest attacks across Iraq, including videotaped beheadings.

The New York Times reports that Allawi is "seeking to speed the return of senior officials of the former ruling Baath Party into the government." In what the Times calls his "most aggressive move yet" to bring former Baathists into the interim government, Allawi has tried to dismantle an independent commission established to keep them from power. The National Commission for De-Baathification was set-up shortly after the US-led invasion, to prevent former Hussein loyalists from playing a role in governing Iraq.

Dr. Allawi's push reflects, in part, his long power struggle with Ahmad Chalabi, the former exile who is chairman of the commission and favors a thorough purging of senior Baathists. But it is also part of a deeper battle for the soul of the Iraqi government and will determine who holds some of the highest offices.

Allawi's Baathist strategy comes with risks, including alienating Shiite groups who object to the Baathists' history of oppression and links to the current insurgency.

Dr. Allawi's efforts to limit the purging process could widen the divide between the country's majority Shiite Muslim population and the Sunni minority, which ruled the region for centuries. Because most of the top Baathists were Sunnis, Dr. Allawi's moves have already drawn sharp opposition from Shiite political leaders, though he is himself a Shiite."

By day, Iraqis loyal to Saddam's Hussein's much-feared Baath Party recite their oath in clandestine meetings, solicit donations from former members and talk politics over sugary tea at a Baghdad cafe known as simply 'The Party.'

By night, cells of these same men stage attacks on American and Iraqi forces, host soirees for Saddam's birthday and other former regime holidays, and debrief informants still dressed in suits and ties from their jobs in the new, US-backed Iraqi government.

Also...
• China rejects Chen's peace-talks offer ( The Straits Times, Singapore)
• The economy trumps Iraq ( The Economist)
• Blair: I did not mislead on Iraq ( The Guardian)
• Warlord ends Afghan poll boycott ( BBC)

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