"I was amazed at the scene of a convoy of U.S. tanks escaping away.. being chased by five fighters," said Mansour

By Saber Mashhour, IOL Correspondent

CAIRO, May 21 (IslamOnline.net) – A correspondent for al-Jazeera all-news channel gave an impassioned account of the situation in the Iraqi resistance bastion of Fallujah before the U.S. occupation forces asked him out of the western Baghdad city as a precondition for signing any ceasefire.

Ahmed Mansour was apparently the only reporter in Fallujah when the U.S. occupation forces were imposing a crippling siege on the town for a few weeks in April.

"I have seen resistance fighters with high morale and unique determination to fight American troops in Fallujah," Mansour said in a lecture, organized and hosted by the Egyptian Syndicate of Journalists in Cairo .

"Reporting that the city is gripped by fear on the first day of the siege, angry people gathered around to protest the description, and asked me to tell our audience they are waiting for the Americans."

‘They hate American Forces’

Observers saw the continued American criticism and the highly unusual demand for al-Jazeera to leave Fallujah as a sign of crisis of credibility the U.S. forces face in the eyes of the Iraqis as well as people all over the Arab and Islamic world.

"Iraqis hate the American forces. Scenes of U.S. soldiers eating in Iraqi restaurants disappeared competently. Every soldier is even afraid of walking in the streets alone," Mansour said during the lecture.

"The situation in Iraq is a nightmare for Americans, as they have reportedly lost 7.000 soldiers killed or wounded in the war-scarred country.

"They are suffering a full collapse now. Paul Bremer told Time magazine that he is afraid of entering the bathroom without his bodyguards."

He referred to the U.S. redeployment of 4,000 soldiers stationed in South Korea to Iraq to face the deteriorating situation there.

As he was leaving the town, Mansour said, "I did not see one American soldier all along the 150-kilometer road".

"The whole area was dominated by resistance".

"Amazed"

Mansour said the will of the Fallujah inhabitants could not help but draw the conclusion that the occupation forces faced a tough time in Iraq .

"I was amazed at the scene of a convoy of U.S. tanks escaping away rapidly, before my very eyes, while being chased by five fighters carrying only guns".

"In Fallujah, I swear, I never saw any fighting group exceeding 10 members in number, with all carrying only guns and rocket-propelled grenades. Even children were fighting."

More than 12,000 American paratroopers laid siege to the town, but resistance fighters from all across the country managed to cut off their supply lines.

"Given this stiff resistance, the American troops were forced to ask for a truce. They did not succeed to enter any area of the city except for the uninhabited Industrial Zone," Mansour recalled.

Disastrous

Mansour had said on al-Jazeera - the most-watched channel among Arabic-speaking audience - that local inhabitants were furious over the inaction of Arab and Muslim countries as well as the international community.

Mansur had also described the situation in Fallujah as disastrous, as the town – densely populated by 300,000 – was directly shelled by the U.S. forces.

According to medics in Fallujah, the American offensive had claimed the lives of at least 700 Iraqis, mostly women and children, and left up to 1500 others injured.

With a growing death toll and massive scenes of destruction due to the U.S. air bombardment, Mansour had warned against a "humanitarian crisis" in the besieged town – much to the fury of American occupation forces seeking to win the "hearts and minds" of the people of the oil-rich country.

Mark Kimmitt, the deputy director of U.S. military operations in Iraq , accused Mansur personally of propagating a "series of lies" on the situation on Fallujah.

But as Kimmitt was declaring a ceasefire in Fallujah on air on al-Jazeera, Mansur directed the camera towards live images of continued air raids by F16 fighter jets on residential neighborhoods of the town.

On April 9, the United States asked al-Jazeera team to leave Fallujah as one of conditions for reaching a settlement to the bloody stand-off in the besieged town.

The crew left apparently for fear of their lives. On April 8, 2003 , one year ago, U.S. forces hit with missiles  al-Jazeera office in Baghdad , killing Aljazeera correspondent Tarik Ayyoub just a few hours before rolling into the capital.