FALLUJA, June 6: A respected religious leader in an Iraqi city that has seen repeated attacks on US troops called on Sunnis on Friday to bide their time before trying to drive out the Americans, as war with them would be suicidal.

“The question is not whether to resist, but when,” Sheikh Makki al-Kubeisi told worshippers at a packed mosque at Friday prayers. “We cannot fight with a rusty sword. Falluja would then be wiped out. No one could accept this.”

Sheikh Kubeisi was persecuted during the rule of Saddam Hussein, but that does not make him a supporter of the United States.

US troops have been targeted in several attacks in Iraq’s Sunni heartland around Falluja, which lies 70kms west of Baghdad.

The United States reacted this week by sending in tanks and roughly doubling its forces in and around the city on the Euphrates. But the attacks continued. One US soldier was killed and five were wounded on Thursday.

Falluja’s 400,000 people are strongly influenced by religion. Mosques fill the city and women seldom go out in the streets.

Falluja’s residents make a living from agriculture, transporting oil, contracting and smuggling.

It is unclear who carried out the attacks and no one has claimed responsibility. The U.S military blames Saddam loyalists and is searching the city.

On Friday, US forces, backed by tanks and helicopters, raided the home of Mahmoud Allawi, a member of the former ruling Baath party, and took away four people, witnesses said. It was not clear whether Allawi was among the four.—Reuters