[ppi] [ppiindia] Marines 'Reposition' Fallujah Forces (mengganti dengan pasukan Irak)

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Marines 'Reposition' Fallujah Forces=20

FALLUJAH, Iraq - Iraqi security forces took over positions from=20
withdrawing U.S. Marines on Friday, and a U.S. official said an=20
agreement had been reached to allow an Iraqi security force to patrol=20
the city and end the monthlong siege.=20

Skirmishes continued in Fallujah, however, and a suicide car bombing=20
killed two Marines and wounded six near their camp in the city, the=20
military said. It gave no details of the attack.=20

Members of the 1,100-member force moved into the former Marine=20
positions in southeastern Fallujah and raised the Iraqi flag.=20
Military spokesman Brig. Gen. Mark Kimmitt said the Marines=20
were "repositioning" their forces and would continue to maintain a=20
strong presence in and around Fallujah.=20

Negotiations were also taking place in the southern city of Najaf,=20
where tribal leaders and police discussed a proposal to end a=20
standoff between soldiers and militiamen loyal to radical Shiite=20
cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. In a sermon, al-Sadr remained defiant, saying=20
he rejected "any appeasement with the occupation."=20

Meanwhile, an Iraqi police colonel, Ahmad al-Khazraji, was shot dead=20
Thursday night in downtown Baghdad, the U.S. command said Friday. The=20
body of a Baghdad area council member was found hung with a sign on=20
his chest that said "al-Mahdi Army business," a reference to al-
Sadr's militia.=20

"It appears he had been beaten, tortured and hung," Kimmitt said.=20

Kimmitt told reporters that the new Iraqi force in Fallujah will=20
be "completely integrated" with Marines. He insisted that the Marines=20
were not "withdrawing" from the city.=20

On Friday, convoys of troops and equipment could be seen heading out=20
of parts of Fallujah.=20

"Initially it appears that the transition to the Fallujah Protective=20
Army is working. It's a delicate situation. The Fallujah Protective=20
Army is the Iraqi solution we've all been looking for in this area,"=20
Marine Lt. Col. Brennan Byrne said.=20

The commander of the new force is Maj. Gen. Jassim Mohammed Saleh, a=20
veteran of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s Republican Guard. He=20
shook hands with Marine commanders at a post on the southeastern=20
entry to the city.=20

Kimmitt said he had no information on Saleh's background, but that=20
the commander had been vetted by the Marines who had full confidence=20
in him. A former general in the Iraqi army, Mohammed al-Askari, said=20
Saleh served in the Republican Guards in the 1980s. He later=20
commanded an Iraqi army division and headed the army's infantry=20
forces.=20

A senior defense official at the Pentagon (news - web sites) said the=20
Iraqi soldiers' initial mission is to man checkpoints around the=20
city. Marines will remain on or near the city's perimeter and plan at=20
a later stage to conduct their own patrols inside the city, the=20
official said on condition of anonymity.=20

The Iraqi force will be all-volunteer and will consist of former=20
Iraqi soldiers from the Fallujah area who are approved by U.S.=20
authorities, the official said.=20

Gen. John Abizaid, who heads U.S. military operations in the Middle=20
East, told reporters at the Pentagon that the United States was=20
sticking by most of the objectives it outlined when the Marines=20
stormed Fallujah on April 5 =97 mainly to seize the men who brutally=20
killed four American contractors. But Abizaid conceded that the=20
killers had probably already fled the city.=20

He seemed to soften on previous demands that the guerrillas hand over=20
foreign fighters and heavy weapons to U.S. forces.=20

"Clearly we will not tolerate the presence of foreign fighters,"=20
Abizaid said. "We will insist on the heavy weapons coming off the=20
streets. We want the Marines to have freedom of maneuver along with=20
the Iraqi security forces."=20

Foreign fighters, too, may have fled the city, a top U.S. military=20
official in Baghdad said on Thursday. Others question whether many=20
foreign fighters had ever joined the battle in Fallujah,=20
characterizing it instead as a homegrown uprising. And weapons=20
coming "off the streets" appears to be a softening of the previous=20
demands to "turn over" heavy weapons to the Marines.=20

Saleh is a veteran of Saddam's Republican Guard. He met with tribal=20
leaders in a mosque on Friday morning, wearing his uniform from the=20
former Iraqi military with his general's insignia.=20

"Fallujah residents have chosen Maj. Gen. Jassim Mohammed Saleh to=20
form and lead a unit that will be in charge of protecting the city,"=20
said Iraqi Brig. Gen. Shakir al-Janabi, who expects to be part of the=20
new force. "Our force will handle the security issue today in=20
cooperation with Iraqi police."=20

One of three battalions of U.S. Marines packed up and withdrew from=20
most of its positions in an industrial zone in the southern area of=20
the city. U.S. military guards permitted civilian cars to enter the=20
city after undergoing searches.=20

In an apparent move to speed the Fallujah agreement, U.S. authorities=20
Thursday released the imam of the city's main mosque, Sheik Jamal=20
Shaker Nazzal, an outspoken opponent of the U.S. occupation who was=20
arrested in October.=20

Fighting had continued between Marines and guerrillas during the=20
negotiations.=20

Three F/A-18 Hornets flying off the aircraft carrier USS George=20
Washington in the Gulf dropped three 500-pound bombs Thursday on=20
targets in the Fallujah area, Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Danny=20
Hernandez said.=20

Witnesses reported rockets fired into the Golan neighborhood, a=20
bastion of the insurgency, and two houses were set on fire. Marines=20
and guerrillas have clashed repeatedly in the northern district since=20
Monday.=20

Hospital officials said more than 600 Iraqis, many of them civilians,=20
have been killed in Fallujah along with 10 U.S. Marines. But the=20
figures were disputed by Iraq (news - web sites)'s health ministry=20
and an exact toll was not known.=20

Ten U.S. soldiers and a South African civilian were killed in attacks=20
elsewhere in Iraq on Thursday, including eight Americans who died=20
when a bomb hit as they tried to clear explosives from a road south=20
of Baghdad.=20

Friday's American deaths raised to 128 the number of U.S. troops=20
killed in combat in April, the bloodiest month for U.S. forces in=20
Iraq.=20

At least 738 U.S. troops have died in Iraq since the war began in=20
March 2003. Up to 1,200 Iraqis also have been killed this month.=20

In Najaf, negotiations continued in to end the standoff with=20
militiamen loyal to al-Sadr.=20

Ahmed Shaybani, a spokesman for al-Sadr, told The Associated Press=20
that talks were under way between Najaf police and tribal leaders. He=20
said a proposal emerged under which al-Sadr followers would hand over=20
security to the Najaf police and Sadr's Mahdi army would leave the=20
city.=20

Shaybani said the proposal would be accepted if the Americans agreed=20
not to enter Najaf and did not act in a hostile way toward its holy=20
sites. Al-Sadr would remain in the city.=20

In a sermon at a mosque in nearby Kufa, al-Sadr remained defiant.=20

"Some people have asked me to tone down my words and to avoid=20
escalation with the Americans," al-Sadr said. "My response is that I=20
reject any appeasement with the occupation and I will not give up=20
defending the rights of the believers. America is the enemy of Islam=20
and Muslims and jihad is the path of my ancestors."=20

Lt. Col. Pat White said U.S. forces were holding back to give talks a=20
chance and out of respect for Friday, the Islamic day of prayer.=20

"We want to show that we respect what that day means to the Islamic=20
world," White said, adding that U.S. forces will closely monitor the=20
speeches that clerics give at prayer services.=20



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