"Is it a coincidence that US puppet (and Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad) Allawi is calling for the death penalty to be administered to the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS) Sunni clerics who oppose elections, while, at the same time two of these clerics have been gunned down by unknown forces? This coincidence seems to be more intentional than coincidental. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised at all if it turns out that these two men were killed by death squads employed by the US and its client government in Baghdad."

After several weeks of relative calm in Adhamiya, the detention of the Imam of Abu Hanifa and killing of worshippers inside their mosque is sure to ignite the fires of revenge in this area, which is already known as the Fallujah of Baghdad."

"On the eve of the assault on Falluja, the US military ordered troops to shoot any male on the street between the ages of 15 and 50 if they were seen as a security threat, regardless of whether they had a weapon....'You are killers, not murderers. You are warriors not war criminals. Don't cross that line,'" (said one U.S. Officer).

Some areas of the oil pipeline linking the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk with the Turkish Ceyhan harbour, in the Mediterranean sea, have been blown up by Iraqi insurgents, Al Jazeera news service reported Sunday.

"A group of national, political and religious groups in Iraq, including the Association of Muslim Scholars, have decided to boycott the elections due to be held early next year....The signatories of the statement include Imam Khalesi University, Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS); the National Trend Movement; Iraqi National Foundational Conference; Iraqi Turkomen Front; and the Christian Democratic Party."

Baghdad - Forty-seven Iraqi political and religious

parties have decided to boycott the general elections

due in January in protest against the extended use of

force throughout the country, a joint statement said

on Wednesday.

"US forces have detained the deputy head of Iraq's interim parliament and senior member of the Iraqi Islamic Party in a dawn raid on his Baghdad home....'This action is a kind of punishment to the Islamic Party because we object to what is happening in Iraq, especially Falluja, and to the security policies adopted by the Americans and the Iraqi government,' (Islamic Party Spokesman) al-Samarrai was quoted as saying."

FALLUJAH, Iraq - Murmuring "God is great," two dozen Iraqi men collected corpses Tuesday in a U.S. Marine-directed effort to rid Fallujah of festering bodies in keeping with Muslim burial principles.

Baghdad's highest Shia authority has denounced the US military assault on Falluja and called on all Iraqi religious authorities to support the Iraqi people.

"We back our brotherly Sunni Muslims in the city of Falluja and nothing on earth will spoil our brotherhood with them."

By John Pilger

"Mainstream media speak as if Fallujah were populated only by foreign 'insurgents.' In fact, women and children are being slaughtered in our name."

The military says keeping men aged 15 to 55 from leaving is key to the mission's success.

"If they're not carrying a weapon, you can't tell who's who," said an officer with the 1st Cavalry Division.

"We call on the Iraqi government and US forces to allow us to do our humanitarian duty to the innocent people," said Firdus al-Ubadi, Red Crescent spokeswoman.

"This is their responsibility," she said, adding that judging by reports received from refugees and pictures broadcast on television, Falluja was a "big disaster".

The assault on Falluja by the U.S. and Iraqi puppet government has not stopped resistance to the occupation.

Globe and Mail | Wednesday, November 10, 2004 | By Naomi Klein

"Escape routes have been sealed off, homes are being demolished, and an emergency health clinic has been razed -- all to prepare the city for January elections...

"So the excuses were lies: If elections can be held now, they could have been held a year ago, when the country was vastly calmer. But that would have denied Washington the chance to install a puppet regime in Iraq, and possibly prevented Mr. Bush from winning a second term.

Sydney Morning Herald | November 9, 2004

"A US-led attack on the Iraqi Sunni-stronghold (Falluja) will breach the Geneva convention..."