Fallujah attack needed, Allawi says

By EDITH M. LEDERER
The Associated Press

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Allawi's diplomatic rebuke was in response to Secretary-General Kofi Annan's letter last week warning the leaders of the United States, Britain and Iraq that an all-out assault on Fallujah could undermine national elections set for Jan. 27.

The U.S. military, supported by Iraqi forces, went into Fallujah yesterday after Allawi gave the green light. Samir Sumaidaie, Iraq's ambassador to the U.N., met Annan yesterday and told reporters afterward that attacking Fallujah was "the least damaging, the least dangerous" option to restore law and order to the city, which is now under "a Taliban-like rule."

In his three-page letter, Allawi told Annan he shared Annan's view that an escalation in violence could disrupt Iraq's political transition.

"But I believe that this argues for taking firm steps now to tackle the violence we face today," he wrote. "Unchecked, this violence will escalate — perhaps even into a sectarian struggle which threatens the elections altogether. We cannot afford to run that risk."

Allawi said it was "unacceptable" that civilians in parts of the country have been "hijacked by the terrorists and insurgents."

"Worse still is that the terrorists and insurgents operating from places like Fallujah are exporting their violence to other parts of the country, terrorizing and killing innocent Iraqis and those seeking to protect them," he said. "I cannot allow these terrorists to continue to murder with impunity.

"I was a little surprised by the lack of any mention in your letter of the atrocities which these groups have committed."

Allawi said he shared Annan's preference for a political solution over military confrontation. "But I did not find in your letter a new plan or a new strategy beyond this strong preference," he wrote.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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