US troops pounded the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah with airstrikes and tank fire, and the Iraqi government appealed to residents to expel ”foreign terrorists” to prevent an all-out attack.

HOPES grew last night for the release of two French journalists held hostage in Iraq, with France’s foreign minister saying he had received word that they were alive.

INSURGENTS threatened to behead a kidnapped US Marine and a Pakistani driver unless the Americans release all Iraqis in “occupation jails,” according to a videotape on Arab television.

A senior officer of the US-backed Fallujah Brigade today disputed US claims that an air strike had hit a safehouse of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi’s network.

A TUNISIAN who has campaigned for a holy war in Spain was yesterday named as the leader of the Madrid terror bombers.