FALLUJAH, April 16: American and Iraqi officials were confident on Friday of reaching a comprehensive ceasefire in Fallujah after talks with local elders in the besieged heart of resistance.
Senior representatives from the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) and the US military met the Iraqi delegates at a US base outside town for several hours after an earlier ceasefire expired on Friday amid regular clashes in the town.
"Fallujans want to return to peace and normal life. They are willing to take steps in that direction and the same is true of the coalition forces. I'm optimistic," said Hashem al Hassani, a politician from the Iraqi Islamic Party.
"There are some bad elements that need to be controlled and the people are willing to reject those criminal elements," said Mr Hassani, a representative of the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) who led local elders in the talks.
He said the two sides had agreed to hold further discussions on Saturday in a bid to seal a permanent ceasefire in the town, a constant source of resistance to the US-led occupation of the country.
Scores of US soldiers and more than 600 Iraqis have been killed in fighting here over the past two weeks, after US forces launched a major crackdown following the murder of four American contractors on March 31.
"We need to build bridges of trust ... between the people of Fallujah and the coalition so that we can address the common foe," CPA chief policy officer Richard Jones said, referring to guerillas who control much of the city west of Baghdad.
He said that as a first concession, US forces would start to reposition troops on Saturday to allow vehicular access to the general hospital. Jones also said the coalition would "resume some kind of dialogue" with Iraqi security forces who could be expected to play a key role in the future governance of Fallujah.
But he said "crimes" including the murder of the US contractors would have to be investigated once peace is restored. US helicopter gunships blasted guerilla positions overnight but the town was relatively quiet as the talks got underway.
Despite the calm both sides appeared ready to resume allout fighting as an unstable 48-hour truce expired on Friday morning, and top US officers said they would go back on the offensive if diplomatic efforts failed.
"There may have been a diminution of the intensity of the fire. As of now we do not see a full ceasefire which we asked for and which they committed to try to achieve," Jones added.
Lt Gen James T. Conway, head of the First Marine Expeditionary Force which controls parts of the town, was also present at the talks. Marine officers said their commanders were participating for the first time.
Both sides have accused the other of breaking the ceasefire but there is also agreement that the violence must stop and the diplomatic track must be given a chance. -AFP
