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Iraqi Fighters Deny Zarqawi Hiding, Operating In Fallujah
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The Iraqi resistance fighters distanced themselves from Al-Qaeda
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BAGHDAD,
June 25 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Repudiating American
claims, Iraqi fighters in Fallujah denied on Friday, June 25, the
presence of suspected Al-Qaeda senior militant Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi in
their town adding they were simply defending their homeland against
occupation forces.
Covering
their faces, the resistance fighters said in a tape aired by Reuters
that the American allegations are part of a "game of the American
invader forces".
"The
American invader forces claim that Zarqawi, and with him a group of
Arab fighters, are in our city," one masked man read from a piece
of paper.
"We
know that this talk about Zarqawi and the fighters is a game the
American invader forces are playing to strike Islam and Muslims in the
city of mosques, steadfast Fallujah."
The
tape showed five men holding a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and
machine gun and saying local fighters were defending their hometown -
sometimes known as the "city of mosques."
At
least 700 Iraqis, mostly
women and children , were killed and 1500 others injured when
the US occupation forces imposed a tight siege on the town and
intensified air strikes on its densely-populated areas.
Hundreds
of houses and the town’s only hospital were demolished by the US
aircraft in the raids, putting Washington under an intense wave of
criticism by world human rights groups.
A
truce was later agreed, under which an Iraqi force was put in charge
of security in the city.
But
on June 19, at least 24
local inhabitants , including women and children, were killed
in a US air strike, fuelling the residents’ distrust of the American
forces.
The
overwhelming firepower of the US occupation troops has failed so far
to break the staunch will of Fallujah fighters.
Iraqi
experts have told Islamonline.net that the clans
character with its machismo, bravery and daring
initiatives, let alone an exemplary religious harmony, also
contributed to the relentless resistance, which grabbed the headlines.
Other
have said that repeatedly US provocative practices, like the pre-dawn
raids on houses and harassment
of Iraqi women, fan anti-American sentiments in the town.
20
Deaths
In
a related development, the US occupation forces announced Friday they
killed between 20 and 25 people in a new air strike on Fallujah.
The
American military claimed the target of their strike was a safe house
of Zarqawi in the town.
But
witnesses said a US military plane fired missiles at a house in a
residential area in Fallujah.
"A
US aircraft fired what looked to be two missiles on the house" in
the residential district of Shuhada, Ayman Ibrahim, a local resident
told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
US
planes dropped 10 bombs on Fallujah during clashes Thursday, June 24,
a military spokesman in Washington said.
The
American forces used the claim that Zarqawi is leading a campaign of
bombing attacks to launch strikes on the Fallujah, which has a
population of 300,000 people.
The
occupation forces had earlier claimed an the attack on a border area,
which killed
more than 40 people , including several children, on May 20
targeted a safe house used by foreign fighters entering Iraq from
Syria.
But
the Associated Press aired a video
tape refuting the count and showing a decorated wedding
vehicle and guests arriving for the celebrations followed by scenes of
death and destruction on the scene.
In
internet written and taped messages, a group led by Zarqawi claimed
responsibility for a
wave of attacks in Iraq Thursday in which more than 100
people were killed and hundreds wounded.
But
the claims could not be either substantiated or the messages
authenticated.
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