Steve Negus
Financial Times
24 September 2004
US forces signalled this week that they had stopped honouring locally negotiated truces between Iraq's interim government and insurgent groups in an attempt to extend coalition control into previously designated "no-go" areas.
This sparked heavy fighting yesterday between US forces and rebels in two Iraqi guerrilla strongholds, the Sunni town of Samarra and the Shia slum of Sadr City.
In Samarra, Iraqi insurgents launched the first concerted ambush on US forces since the Americans began patrolling the city on September 9, said Major Neal O'Brien, public affairs officer for the First Infantry Division.
No US troops were hurt and at least 14 insurgents were reported killed.
US tanks meanwhile guarded the streets of Sadr City after seizing an enclave in the south of the sprawling suburb on Tuesday. Hospitals reported at least 20 people killed in the fighting, the worst in Sadr City for two weeks. The area, east of Baghdad, is controlled by militia loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. The incursion came after the collapse of talks between representatives of Mr Sadr and Iraq's interim government on a deal by which the militia would disarm.
In both Samarra and Sadr City, US and Iraqi officials accused insurgents of breaching the ceasefire deals first - in Samarra by attacks on US forces, in Sadr City by hoarding weapons.
The US military has never officially recognised truces negotiated by the interim government of Iyad Allawi, the prime minister, though they honoured them in practice until Tuesday.
Mr Allawi has several times declared his willingness to negotiate with insurgents. His representatives have talked to Mr Sadr's militia and Samarra groups and the Consultative Council of the Mujahideen of Falluja, a town west of Baghdad that is considered the toughest of the "no-go" zones to crack.
Last week, however, US military officials said they meant to force their way into Falluja and other rebel-held zones in time for elections scheduled for January, as soon as enough trained Iraqi troops were available.
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Citation:
Steve Negus, "US Troops stop honouring Iraq 'no-go' deals, Financial Times, 24 September 2004.