Eight US Soldiers, Eight People Killed In Iraq Attacks

"Eight marines assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force were killed in action and nine others were wounded in action today while conducting increased security operations in the Al Anbar Province," the US military said a statement.

The fatalities mark one of the highest single-day death tolls for the marines since last year’s US-led invasion-turned-occupation of oil-rich Iraq, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The western Anbar province includes the two flashpoint cities of Fallujah and Ramadi, where anti-American sentiments are sky-high over incessant bombardment of residential areas under the pretext of flushing out "terrorists".

Separately, a marine spokesman said resistance fighters fired mortars at a marine unit outside Fallujah, denying any casualties.

The American forces responded with some of the heaviest artillery fire in recent weeks, said Lieutenant Lyle Gilbert.

He added that three hours later a US warplane bombed a suspected "rebel" mortar site in the south of the town.

Gilbert said the attack failed to destroy the site completely so a plane returned to rake the area with machine-gun fire.

The new deaths bring to 1,112 the number of US military personnel killed in Iraq since March 2003, according to a Pentagon tally.

Crunch Talks

An Iraqi government-backed delegation and leaders from Falujah are holding crunch talks that are set to deliver imminent results, officials said on Saturday.

The discussions began Wednesday, after interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi agreed to a last-ditch bid by the National Council (interim parliament) to reach a peaceful solution to a military standoff, said lawmaker Jawad Al-Maliki.

"These negotiations are being pursued and until now we have not been informed of their results," he said.

A member of the delegation revealed that the government was insisting on certain points, while the Fallujah team had pushed for others, throwing up obstacles to a potential accord.

"The important thing for us is to resolve the situation peacefully," he said, on condition of anonymity.

Another member of the team was equally tight-lipped about the progress.

"The negotiations are ongoing but we don’t want to give any details now," said council member Nasseer el-Ani.

A spokesman for Allawi’s office on Friday, October 29, indicated that the talks "may be the last chance" for the residents of Fallujah to end the crisis peacefully.

Negotiations between the US-backed interim government and delegates from the town collapsed in mid-October after Allawi threatened the city with invasion if it did not surrender Iraq’s most wanted man, Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi.

City leaders insist that the Jordanian-born Zarqawi does not reside there.

Since October 14, US troops have encircled Fallujah, where the military has repeatedly launched air strikes and some limited ground incursions.

In April, at least 700 Iraqis, mostly women and children , were killed and 1,500 others injured in Fallujah when the US occupation forces imposed a tight siege on the town and intensified air strikes on its densely-populated areas.

On September 18, Amnesty International blasted the US for its barbaric on Fallujah.

Mosques of Fallujah have been unusually deserted during the Muslim holy month this year as people fled the city to avoid a reported US massive onslaught, under the pretext of arresting Abu Mosaab Al-Zarqawi and his followers.

Al-Arabiya Office Blast

At least eight people were killed and several wounded when a car bomb ripped through the streets outside Al-Arabiya television’s offices in Baghdad.

The US military earlier said that five people had been killed and 19 wounded in the attack.

Mohammed Abdelhamid, 28, a correspondent for the Abu Dhabi-based broadcaster said he thought it was a targeted attack.

"We have received threats recently in the form of letters from unknown groups," said Abdelhamid, who has been on his way back to his office when the explosion occurred.

It was the first such attack suffered by Al-Arabiya in Baghdad, where they have about 40-to-50 staff, he added.

US soldiers and Iraqi police on the scene, however, were unable to confirm what had been the target of the blast in the Mansour neighborhood, which also houses several foreign embassies.

A huge crater was punched into the road by the force of the blast outside a car park and across the street from the television station, where fire fighters were battling to put out a blaze.

The building is also used by staffers of Al-Arabiya’s sister television MBC, as well as staffers of the Saudi news channel Al-Ikhbariya.