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“What is going on is the extermination of a population by this operation,” Al-Faydi said.
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BAGHDAD,
November 9 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The massive
assault on Fallujah by thousands of US-led troops has drawn fury among
most Iraqis, scholars and even among the ranks of the US-backed
interim government itself whose Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has given
the go-ahead for the onslaught on Fallujah.
Iraq's
official Sunni Muslim political party threatened to quit the interim
government unless the full-scale military assault – dubbed Operation
Phantom Fury -- on Fallujah is halted, according to a spokesman
Tuesday, November 9.
“We
demand that the government suspends the offensive against Fallujah and
returns to the negotiating table to find a peaceful solution to this
crisis rather than resorting to the military option,” said Iyad
Al-Sa“What is going on is the extermination of a population by this
operation marrie, spokesman for the Islamic Party.
Its
Secretary General Mohson Abdel Hamid was due to meet Allawi later
Tuesday to discuss the offensive
launched Monday against the resistance bastion, according to
Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“From
the result of this meeting, we will decide whether to stay in the
government or withdraw,” Al-Samarrie said.
Shiites
Condemn
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Iraqi Shiites also condemn the assault on Fallujah |
Condemning
the Fallujah onslaught was not just limited to Iraqi Sunnis. Shiites
also weighed in. A spokesman for firebrand Shiite scholar Moqtada
Al-Sadr slammed the US-led assault on Fallujah, appealing to Iraqi
soldiers to abandon “the troops of American occupation”.
“Let
us condemn the invasion of Fallujah and ask our sons in the national
guard and police force not to become instruments of the occupation
forces,” Sheikh Abdel Hadi Darraji told AFP.
US-led
forces unleashed an all-out offensive to seize Fallujah from the hands
of resistance, with US marines advancing toward the city center
following massive strikes by artillery and warplanes.
Shortly
before the attack, rallied Iraqi troops at the main US military base
of Camp Fallujah, telling them they needed to avenge what he termed
“the deaths of innocent Iraqis”.
“You
need to avenge the victims of the terrorists like the 37 children who
were killed in Baghdad and the 49 of your colleagues who were
slaughtered,” he said, referring to two of the deadliest attacks
blamed on militants loyal to Iraq's most wanted man Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi.
Sadr's
spokesman argued that Zarqawi was being used in part to justify the
assault, saying “the pretext of the presence (of Zarqawi) does not
justify an attack against an entire population”.
Last
month, Sadr told Sunni leaders in Fallujah that he was prepared to
help, whether they chose to fight or opted for dialogue to end their
stand-off with the US-installed, interim government and US forces.
Sunni
Ruling
For
its part, the influential Association of Muslim Scholars Monday
accused the interim government of being at the service of the
occupation.
“The
government brushes aside the rights of the Iraqi population and lends
itself to the service of the occupation,” said Sheikh Mohammad
Bachar Al-Faydi, a spokesman for the Association.
“What
is going on is the extermination of a population by this operation,
which is not just targeting the resistance but also women and children
who preferred to stay at home because they have nowhere else to go,”
he added.
Up
to 20,000 US and Iraqi forces are taking part in the offensive on
Fallujah, west of Baghdad, as the interim government says it wants to
control the country ahead of elections promised by January.
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