Marines Start Pullout, Fate Of Fallujah Fighters Unclear

Senior U.S. military had warned last week that resistance fighters in the city had only days to hand over heavy weapons or risk a renewed U.S. offensive but they appeared to change tack at the weekend and push hard for a political solution, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

According to the Washington Post Friday, the surprise agreement, authorized by Marine Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, is intended to give more responsibility to Iraqis for subduing the city while attempting to defuse tensions by pulling Marines back from front-line positions.

“But some U.S. military and civilian officials privately expressed concern that Conway’s strategy involves too hasty a retreat and relies too heavily on Iraqis whose combat skills and allegiances have not been fully examined.”

The 1st Battalion, 5th Marines Regiment began to leave frontline bases in the abandoned factories and garages of Fallujah’s southern industrial zone, witnesses said, according to AFP.

Only 70 to 80 Marines remained at an abandoned soda factory that had served as the battalion’s centre for operations inside the city and they were expected to move later in the day to a base outside Fallujah.

The city has been the scene of the most violent clashes during April with scores of U.S. soldiers and hundreds of Iraqi civilians and resistance fighters killed.

The withdrawal follows a push for a political settlement in the city and troops on Friday were seen taking down barbed wire and defenses while tanks left the area.

Several attempts by U.S. troops to overcome a highly motivated and increasingly resourceful resistance force have been frustrated.

News of the new deal focused mainly on the withdrawal, rather redeployment, of the occupation forces, handing over security to the never-heard-of and newly-formed Fallujah Protection Army.

A senior Iraqi general was greeted by flag-waving crowds Friday as he arrived at Fallujah to take over from withdrawing U.S. forces, an AFP photographer at the scene saw.

Scenes of jubilation greeted the arrival of the man believed to be taking over control of the war-torn city, Major General Jassem Mohamed Saleh, among 1,000 people lined up at Fallujah’s eastern edge waiting to return home.

U.S. marine commanders on the ground said Thursday security in the battered city was being handed over to the Fallujah Protection Army, headed by a General Saleh. Few details were immediately available.

Overnight Shelling

U.S. defense officials, however, said no deal had been completed and U.S. aircraft continued to target resistance positions overnight as uncertainty remained over how any new system would work.

During another night of attacks, U.S. warplanes destroyed two buildings in Fallujah, where resistance fighters have put up the strongest resistance to the U.S.-led forces since invasion last March.

"We had a couple of F-16s and Navy F-18s drop six precision guided munitions in Fallujah, destroying two buildings where anti-coalition forces were hiding or using to fire on marines," said Air Force spokesman Lieutenant Gary Arasin in Washington. "They also performed several strafing passes."

In a further sign the situation in Fallujah may not be as close to settlement as it appeared Friday, the Post reported that it was not clear whether Conway conveyed the terms of the deal to his superiors in Baghdad and at the Pentagon, or even to leaders of the U.S. occupation authority.

“One person familiar with the deal said it took senior U.S. military and civilian officials in Baghdad by surprise. Because of the apparent lack of consultation, some officials said elements of the agreement, particularly the speedy troop withdrawal, may be tempered by the Pentagon or by the U.S. Central Command, which is in charge of operations in Iraq.

"It’s very confusing right now," a senior Pentagon official told the Post. "There’s a disconnect here and we can’t figure it out."

Over the year-long U.S. occupation of Iraq, Fallujah has come to embody the heart and soul of the resistance.

U.S. marines who took over from the army’s 4th Infantry Division vowed to capture or kill what they estimated as 2,000 resistance fighters they believed were holed up in the city and “pacify the community”.

But the aggressive show of force sparked howls of protest in Iraq and internationally. The announcement of the withdrawal followed strong criticism of U.S. military tactics from United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan.

Under the deal, however, the fate of those armed fighters remains unclear. Previous deals of a ceasefire mentioned the handover of heavy weapons, but not the fighters themselves. What the U.S. has in mind for the Fallujah fighters still remains to be seen.