Allawi: Terrorists do not want peace

Iraqi interim prime minister Iyad Allawi has said “terrorists” are not interested in a peaceful settlement and announced that emergency measures would be imposed on the insurgent strongholds of Fallujah and Ramadi beginning tonight.

At a Baghdad press conference today, he said that Iraq’s borders with Syria and Jordan will also be closed off and Baghdad’s international airport would be shut down for 48 hours.

“Once again, we have seen more criminal acts committed by these terrorists who continue to use Fallujah as a base for their operations. We have no other option but to take the necessary measures to protect Iraqi people from these killers and liberate Fallujah,”, he said.

Allawi said that during the opening of today’s offensive, “Iraqi forces entered Fallujah Hospital, capturing four foreigners and killing 38 persons. We do not know whether they are Iraqis or not. They were stationed in the hospital in order to carry out terrorist actions.”

Two of the foreign terrorists seized were from Morocco, he said.