US trying to negotiate Fallujah truce

EXPLOSIONS shook a riverbank as American soldiers battled Shi’ite militiamen outside the southern city of Kufa yesterday.

The fighting came as the US military held its first direct negotiations in an attempt to end fighting in Fallujah.

The military said US soldiers fought back after they were attacked by supporters of a radical cleric near Kufa, which neighbours the holy city of Najaf. Some 2,500 US soldiers are deployed outside Najaf to kill or capture Moqtada al-Sadr and dismantle his al-Mahdi Army militia.

Large explosions were seen by the river on the edge of Kufa. Five civilians caught in the crossfire were killed and 14 wounded, hospital officials said.

In Fallujah, west of Baghdad, US military and civilian officials met with leaders from Fallujah, the first direct negotiations involving Americans since the siege of the city began April 5.

Until now, US-allied Iraqi leaders have been holding talks with city representatives trying to find an end to fighting that has killed dozens of American soldiers and hundreds of Iraqis.

“We are coming in here with an open mind. It is very important what we are doing. We are trying to give diplomatic negotiations a chance here,” Marine Major T Johnson said.

On another front, an Iraqi leader said he saw “flexibility” on the part of an anti-American cleric amid diplomatic efforts to end a standoff with US troops in Najaf, one of the holiest Shi’ite cities.

US commanders said they expect to rotate some of the troops surrounding Najaf, 100 miles south of Baghdad, a sign that imminent combat was not expected.

Iranian envoy Hossein Sadeghi was in Najaf yesterday, but representatives of al-Sadr said the envoy had no meetings with the anti-American cleric. Sadeghi’s visit was arranged by Britain and appeared to have the approval of the US, reflecting an eagerness to find a solution that would avert a US assault on the city.

Meanwhile, the number of foreigners missing in Iraq rose after a man from the United Arab Emirates was abducted on Thursday from his hotel in the southern city of Basra by kidnappers disguised as policemen. A Danish businessman was believed to have been kidnapped earlier in the week.

Three Czech reporters missing since Sunday were released by their kidnappers.

A US F-16 warplane dropped a 2,000-pound bomb in northern Fallujah yesterday, destroying a building where gunmen had been seen, Marines said.

In the northern city of Mosul, insurgents fired mortars at an Iraqi police station and a US base Thursday night, but missed their targets and killed eight Iraqi civilians, the military said. The attacks wounded 17 other Iraqis.

Also yesterday, an Arab from the Persian Gulf was snatched from his hotel by gunmen disguised as police in the southern city of Basra on Thursday night, Iraqi police official Col. Khalaf al-Maliki said.

The hotel owner, who refused to be named, said gunmen broke into the hotel and pulled out the man.

The Danish man was in Iraq to start up a company that deals with sewage projects, according to Denmark television station DR-1. He went missing after his car was stopped Tuesday on a highway near Tadji, 20 miles north of Baghdad.

At least 21 foreigners have been abducted in the past week in a wave of kidnappings.