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Iraqis celebrate
near a burning U.S. truck south of Fallujah
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By
Mazen Ghazi, IOL Correspondent
BAGHDAD,
October 2 (IslamOnline.net) - As Ricardo Sanchez, commander of the
U.S. ground troops in Iraq, admitted that resistance attacks become
"a little more lethal, a little more complex, a little more
sophisticated and in some cases a little more tenacious", an
Iraqi group announced the formation of a unified command of Iraqi
resistance groups.
In
a statement, a copy of which was sent to IslamOnline.net, the National
Front for the Liberation of Iraq revealed that "after intensive
contacts with a number of armed Iraqi groups and Arab volunteers who
flocked to the country ahead of the U.S.-led invasion, a unified
resistance command has now been forged."
It
indicated that the contacts made also included elements from Saddam
Fedayeen and Baathists who are not loyal to ousted president Saddam
Hussein.
It
asserted that the resistance factions that joined the new alliance -
not less than 10 - are deployed across the occupied country, but are
specially active in Kirkuk and Arbil in the north; Baghdad, Tikrit and
Fallujah in the center; and Basra and Babel in the south.
No
Multinational Forces
It
its statement, the Front threatened the U.S.-British occupation troops
of expanding the scale of resistance attacks, asserting that Iraq
"will witness the end of the U.S.-British arrogance of
power."
"The
Front warns all world countries, including Arab and Islamic states,
against sending a single soldier to Iraq under any
circumstances," stressing such troops would be "treated just
like any of the occupation forces".
The
U.S. has unveiled a new U.N. draft resolution, setting no firm
timetable for the transfer of power to Iraqis, in a fresh bid to
persuade reluctant allies to contribute troops and money to help share
the burden in the war-ravaged country.
The
Front did not rule out dialogue with the U.S. troops, provided that
such dialogue would "guarantee the right of our people to have
the occupying forces withdrawn from the country."
Collaborators
Punished
Meanwhile,
the Front threatened "collaborators with the occupation",
pledging to "severely but fairly punish every traitor who has
sold himself to the occupier."
Abdul
Amir El-Rakabi, an Iraqi opposition figure based in Paris, told
IslamOnline.net on April 10, a day after the fall of Baghdad, about
the formation of the National
Front for the Liberation of Iraq.
The
Front had claimed responsibility for a number of attacks against the
U.S. occupation troops and "collaborators".
It
adopted an attack by a Syrian volunteer Sunday April 13 on a number of
U.S. Marines, killing himself and a Marine soldier.
The
Front also claimed an assassination
attempt against Ahmed Chalabi, current rotating chairman of
the U.S.-handpicked Iraqi governing council, on April 12 in
Al-Nasiriya that left several of his bodyguards killed.
