BAGHDAD,
October 30 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - At least eight
American soldiers and eight people were killed and scores others
injured on Saturday, October 30, in separate attacks across
chaos-marred Iraq.
"Eight
marines assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force were killed in
action and nine others were wounded in action today while conducting
increased security operations in the Al Anbar Province," the US
military said a statement.
The
fatalities mark one of the highest single-day death tolls for the
marines since last year's US-led invasion-turned-occupation of
oil-rich Iraq, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
The
western Anbar province includes the two flashpoint cities of Fallujah
and Ramadi, where anti-American sentiments are sky-high over incessant
bombardment of residential areas under the pretext of flushing out
"terrorists".
Separately,
a marine spokesman said resistance fighters fired mortars at a marine
unit outside Fallujah, denying any casualties.
The
American forces responded with some of the heaviest artillery fire in
recent weeks, said Lieutenant Lyle Gilbert.
He
added that three hours later a US warplane bombed a suspected
"rebel" mortar site in the south of the town.
Gilbert
said the attack failed to destroy the site completely so a plane
returned to rake the area with machine-gun fire.
The
new deaths bring to 1,112 the number of US military personnel killed
in Iraq since March 2003, according to a Pentagon tally.
Crunch
Talks
An
Iraqi government-backed delegation and leaders from Falujah are
holding crunch talks that are set to deliver imminent results,
officials said on Saturday.
The
discussions began Wednesday, after interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi
agreed to a last-ditch bid by the National Council (interim
parliament) to reach a peaceful solution to a military standoff, said
lawmaker Jawad Al-Maliki.
"These
negotiations are being pursued and until now we have not been informed
of their results," he said.
A
member of the delegation revealed that the government was insisting on
certain points, while the Fallujah team had pushed for others,
throwing up obstacles to a potential accord.
"The
important thing for us is to resolve the situation peacefully,"
he said, on condition of anonymity.
Another
member of the team was equally tight-lipped about the progress.
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An injured man lies in a hospital bed following the car bomb (AFP)
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"The
negotiations are ongoing but we don’t want to give any details
now," said council member Nasseer el-Ani.
A
spokesman for Allawi's office on Friday, October 29, indicated that
the talks "may be the last chance" for the residents of
Fallujah to end the crisis peacefully.
Negotiations
between the US-backed interim government and delegates from the town
collapsed in mid-October after Allawi threatened the city with
invasion if it did not surrender Iraq's most wanted man, Abu Musab
Al-Zarqawi.
City
leaders insist that the Jordanian-born Zarqawi does not reside there.
Since
October 14, US troops have encircled Fallujah, where the military has
repeatedly launched air strikes and some limited ground incursions.
In
April, at least 700 Iraqis, mostly
women and children , were killed and 1,500 others injured in
Fallujah when the US occupation forces imposed a tight siege on the
town and intensified air strikes on its densely-populated areas.
On
September 18, Amnesty International blasted the US for its barbaric
on Fallujah.
Mosques
of Fallujah have
been unusually deserted during the Muslim holy month this year as
people fled the city to avoid a reported US massive onslaught, under
the pretext of arresting Abu Mosaab Al-Zarqawi and his followers.
Al-Arabiya
Office Blast
At
least eight people were killed and several wounded when a car bomb
ripped through the streets outside Al-Arabiya television's offices in
Baghdad.
The
US military earlier said that five people had been killed and 19
wounded in the attack.
Mohammed
Abdelhamid, 28, a correspondent for the Abu Dhabi-based broadcaster
said he thought it was a targeted attack.
"We
have received threats recently in the form of letters from unknown
groups," said Abdelhamid, who has been on his way back to his
office when the explosion occurred.
It
was the first such attack suffered by Al-Arabiya in Baghdad, where
they have about 40-to-50 staff, he added.
US
soldiers and Iraqi police on the scene, however, were unable to
confirm what had been the target of the blast in the Mansour
neighborhood, which also houses several foreign embassies.
A
huge crater was punched into the road by the force of the blast
outside a car park and across the street from the television station,
where fire fighters were battling to put out a blaze.
The
building is also used by staffers of Al-Arabiya's sister television
MBC, as well as staffers of the Saudi news channel Al-Ikhbariya.
