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April 12, 2004, Scotsman HOSTILITIES HALTED IN UNEASY PEACE Gethin Chamberlain IT WAS an awkward and uneasy peace that settled on Iraq yesterday. Like two punch-drunk boxers, the coalition forces and the insurgents sat in their corners, nursing their wounds, glaring at each other across the canvas. As the Pope and churchmen across the world celebrated Easter Sunday with prayers for peace and love to overcome war and terror, in Fallujah the fragile ceasefire creaked and groaned, but held. A handful of hostages tasted freedom, although others remained in captivity. Gunmen loyal to the radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr patrolled the streets of Karbala, but the threatened onslaught by the United States' forces never came. In Baghdad, a helicopter burned, its two crewmen dead, and tanks traded gunfire with Iraqi fighters, but for once that was the exception to the rule. Everyone seemed to be waiting for someone else to make the first move. "What we're trying to do is simply get the forces to stop firing. We're in a testing time right now," said Paul Bremer, the US civilian administrator. But while no-one was doing much shooting, no-one was backing down either. The insurgents said they would observe the ceasefire, but only as long as the Americans did. The US commander warned of a resumption of all-out assault if the ceasefire broke. In Fallujah, the Americans used the pause to move up reinforcements and the Sunni insurgents spent the day regrouping and counting their dead. The head of the main hospital in the city estimated the death toll at more than 600 since the start of the offensive a week ago, but added that the number may not be absolutely accurate because many families had already buried their dead in their gardens. Responding to the report of 600 dead, Marine Lt -Col Brennan Byrne once more displayed an insensitivity which many claim has exacerbated the crisis. "The marines are trained to be precise in their firepower. The fact there are 600 goes back to the fact that the marines are very good at what they do," he said. For their part, the Americans announced the deaths of eight US soldiers in various attacks over the weekend. It had been, in the understated words of the president, George Bush, "a tough week." Meeting wounded troops at the US army base at Fort Hood, Texas, he awarded the Purple Heart medal to ten soldiers who were recently wounded in Sadr City. "It was a tough week last week and my prayers and thoughts are with those who pay the ultimate price for our security," he said. "This violence we've seen is part of a few people trying to stop progress toward democracy." But if he was conscious of the tide of public opinion turning against him, Mr Bush did not let it show. "Our troops are taking care of business. Their job is to make Iraq more secure, so that a peaceful Iraq can emerge," he said. At least for British civilian Gary Teeley, it was a good day. Kidnapped by militia last Monday, he was yesterday freed thanks to the intervention of Italian special forces. Raiding the homes of supporters of the rebel cleric Sadr to look for weapons, ammunition and documents, they discovered where Mr Teeley was being held. Colonel Giuseppe Perrone, a spokesman for the Italian contingent in An Nasiriyah, said the troops called in local officials, who helped to negotiate the release. The 37-year-old Mr Teeley, a father of five, had been working as a contractor at a coalition air base outside the southern city when he was kidnapped. Eight lorry drivers - three from Pakistan, two Turks, an Indian, a Nepali and one from the Philippines - who had been held hostage were also reported to have been released in response to a call from the Muslim Clerics Association. The fate of three kidnapped Japanese civilians, however, remained uncertain, although the threatened deadline for their execution came and went, with reports claiming they were safe - for now. With the combatants taking a day off, it was left to the politicians to slug it out. Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, went on the offensive. The coalition would not be swayed by the "fanatics" and "men of violence" who had taken hostages in Iraq, he said: "There is a battle we have to fight, a struggle we have to win and it is happening now in Iraq." But in Iraq, some members of the US-appointed Governing Council were blaming a series of bad calls by American officials in Iraq for playing into the hands of the insurgents, using excessive force and underestimating the depth of Iraqis' suspicion of American intentions. "Everything points to the failure of the Americans' security policy in Iraq," said Mahmoud Othman, an outspoken member of the Governing Council. "The Americans cannot solve the problems of Iraq because of their ignorance of the language, customs and traditions." Othman, a Sunni Kurd, said: "It did not come as a big surprise to me that they are trying to settle problems with more than one party through military means." Still, the ceasefire held, even if no-one held out much hope it would last. Mr Bush said it was hard to tell if the violence would ebb soon. The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, said he would not walk away from a historic struggle. Kuwait warned of disaster if the coalition stuck to the 30 June deadline. But after the worst week in Iraq since the end of the war, it was a peace, of sorts.
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................................................................................................................. Copyright ©2004 Gethin Chamberlain. All rights reserved. |
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