FALLUJAH, Oct 29: US marines prepared on Friday to storm the Iraqi cities of Fallujah and Ramadi to crush militants. "We are gearing up for a major operation," Brigadier General Denis Hajlik told reporters at a base near Fallujah.
"If we do so, it will be decisive and we will whack them."
Gen Hajlik, deputy commander of the First Marine Expeditionary Force, said the expected assault would involve Iraqi forces. Iraq's US-backed interim government has vowed to pacify the whole country before nation wide elections due in January.
US planes have launched almost daily airstrikes on what the military says are safe houses used by a network of Iraqi and foreign fighters led by Jordanian Abu Musab al Zarqawi.
The latest air raid on Friday killed seven Iraqis and wounded three more civilians. A full-scale offensive could be as devastating as a marine attack in April that Washington called off after a world outcry over civilian casualties. Local doctors reported more than 600 dead in the fighting.
Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi urged the people of Fallujah on Thursday to hand over Zarqawi-led militants and seize a "last chance" for peace, but set no deadline. Fallujah leaders say they know nothing of Zarqawi's network. In on-off talks with the government, they have said Iraqi security forces can return to the city, but not US troops.
TALKS 'A RUSE': Marine Colonel Michael Shupp dismissed the sputtering dialogue as a sham. "The negotiations are a ruse. They are just stalling for time," he told reporters near Falluja.
US-led troops would have to support Iraqi forces inside Fallujah after militants were dislodged, he said. He ruled out any repeat of a peace deal in May which handed the city to a "Fallujah Brigade" led by former Baathist army officers.
"The insurgents probably were the Fallujah Brigade," he said. Marine intelligence officer Major James West said guerilla attacks could continue even if the Jordanian was eliminated.
"Even if we get Zarqawi, that doesn't necessarily mean it's over," he told reporters. Major West said Falluja's population had dropped to 50,000 or 60,000 from 350,000 because many families had fled for safety.
UK SOLDIER DIES: A British soldier died in a road accident as the Black Watch regiment rebased to "the triangle of death" southwest of Baghdad to free up US units for the Fallujah offensive. -AFP
Hostage killed
BAGHDAD: A Japanese hostage taken in Iraq has been killed, Kyodo news agency said on Friday, citing information obtained by the Japanese government. Zarqawi's militant group said in an Internet video on Wednesday it would behead 24-year-old Shosei Koda within 48 hours if Japan did not withdraw its 550 non-combat troops from Iraq. -AFP
