10 April 2004	Saturday	19 Safar 1425

BAGHDAD, April 9: At least two US soldiers and a civilian truck driver were killed by guerillas in Iraq on Friday and three more Marines were killed west of Baghdad the previous day, the US military confirmed in a statement.

In the rest of the country, the occupation forces struggled to maintain crumbling control, exactly a year after seizing Baghdad with much fanfare, against stiff resistance from both Sunni and Shia fighters.

A six-day offensive against the guerillas has killed more than 450 Iraqis and wounded about 1,000, but failed to quell a determined opposition. The chaos faced by the occupation forces acquired a new dimension on Friday as the spectre of kidnappings, which started the previous day with the captivity of three Japanese, took an ominous turn with the abduction of two Americans and four Italians.

The US military statement added that the attack also killed a civilian truck driver and wounded 12 people. The announcement of three more Marines killed on Thursday brings the total number of US Marines killed that day to four.

Marines have been fighting fierce battles with guerillas in the cities of Ramadi and Falluja west of Baghdad. According to the latest Pentagon figures, 455 US troops have been killed in Iraq since the start of the war.

FALLUJAH: In Fallujah, the sound of machineguns and mortars reverberated across the town on Friday night as US marines and guerillas battled on despite efforts to suspend hostilities.

The marines called for women and children to exit the city, but blocked men from leaving as they looked to capture those responsible for the murders last week of four US contractors.

Hundreds of fleeing families turned around when the marines refused to let the men leave. Their return to the city put a snag in the military's plan to clear Fallujah of civilians before any possible house-to-house fighting.

In Baghdad, hundreds of armed men seized control of the highway linking the capital to Fallujah, as well as the Abu Ghraib prison. On the Baghdad-Fallujah portion of the highway, 10 tanker trucks, some of which appeared to be US-owned, were ablaze and a man, apparently one of the drivers, was killed.

In the predominantly Shia neighbourhood of Sadr City, US forces pulled out of police stations and the town hall. The British foreign office said late in the night that a Briton had died in sniper fire in the Iraqi capital. A sports club near a heavily fortified hotel was also hit by shellfire, but it caused no casualties or damage.

RESISTANCE: Intelligence reports said snipers were taking positions in mosque minarets in the town west of Baghdad, where at least 300 Iraqis have been killed in six days of fighting. "It's going to get worse before it gets better," one marine said as the American troops took shelter in the comparative safety of abandoned factories.

Paul Bremer, the US overseer in Iraq, earlier announced a unilateral 24-hour halt in hostilities to enable talks to be held on allowing aid to be moved in to beleaguered residents and for bodies to be buried. Mr Bremer said the suspension was meant to "allow for a meeting between members of the (US-installed interim) Governing Council, local Muslim leadership and the leadership of anti-coalition forces".

But marine field commanders said the pause was short-lived. "The suspension of offensive operations lasted for 90 minutes but it is over," said Lt Col Brennan Byrne, a battalion commander, adding that planned talks with local tribal sheikhs never came off.

Major Pete Farnum said: "We went into pause but the enemy kept attacking us on the western side of the city. We had to defend ourselves so we asked for permission to return to offensive operation. This was granted."

There was no further word from Mr Bremer or the deputy director of military operations, Brig Gen Mark Kimmitt, who had earlier insisted the suspension of operations was still in force. But as night fell in Fallujah, Col Byrne made clear he had received no new orders to halt the campaign. "Right now, we're going back to the attack. My colonel told me we're still on the offensive."

Sporadic machinegun fire echoed through the city as did the explosion of rocket-propelled-grenades (RPGs) and mortar rounds fired by guerillas, but the fighting was less intense than in previous days. The US military said on Friday at least two marines were killed in clashes.

The US troops were holed up in abandoned, rat-infested factories edging the residential sector of the city. They were gearing up for a bruising fight. "The word has passed from on high that snipers are hiding in minarets from noon today because they know we can't engage a mosque unless they engage us first," said one marine official.

"They are trying to trap us with the rules we follow... They blanket themselves in the grey area of war," the official said. In the squalid streets between the US troops and guerillas, bodies remained where they fell, with relatives too afraid to recover them for burial.

Before the unilateral suspension was announced, one marine was wounded in a clash on the edge of the industrial area. The marines said he was hit by an RPG in the southeastern sector, which was believed to be secure.

Around noon, a tank opened fire on "enemy positions", a US official said. One of six shells punched a hole in the minaret of a mosque that had been bombed on Wednesday. One marine officer said a sniper was in the yellow minaret.

The marines said that rules of engagement had been eased to allow the readier use of tanks and artillery. One lieutenant said: "Basically the situation has escalated since we rode into Fallujah. At first, the plan was to shake hands with the people and engage the enemy where we find him. But when we came in here, all we faced was the enemy."

Food supplies were running short in the besieged town and on Thursday residents were invited to get handouts from religious leaders at hospitals and morgues after a food convoy managed to enter the town. Marines later allowed more than 20 trucks of aid to enter, with some of the supplies distributed at a designated gathering point.

KUT: US troops claimed they had retaken Kut, two days after Ukrainian forces were driven out by militiamen. A military spokeswoman in Baghdad said the troops were in control of the city, but a senior Iraqi police official said the Americans faced rough going from Sadr's Mehdi Army. Sadr's local office came under air and ground fire at night. -Reuters/AFP