Indian Deputy Prime Minister Lal Krishna Advani said yesterday that he expects India and the United States to finalize an agreement early next week for India to send peacekeepers to Iraq.
A Pentagon team will visit New Delhi next week to offer "clarifications" sought by members of India's ruling coalition government, Mr. Advani told The Washington Times. He said the U.S. request for Indian troops in Iraq was made some time ago and repeated by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld on Sunday.
India's Cabinet Committee on Security, which has discussed the U.S. request twice before, will decide on offering troops after the visit by the Pentagon team, Mr. Advani said.
"A decision was not taken [immediately] because certain questions were raised by members of the government, and it was felt that we should have clarifications in that regard," he said.
FALLUJAH, Iraq — This is an angry town that sees itself as the center of a nationwide revolt against the U.S.-led occupation.
People chafe at the sight of U.S. soldiers, seethe at checkpoints around town and submit to weapons searches with a fury that is more likely to explode than subside.
"The resistance will be continuous and it will increase not only in Fallujah but all across Iraq. The resistance is organized and it will grow, but Fallujah is the center," said Tariq Kamil, who sells cooking oil from a tiny shop at the local market.
Fallujah, some 30 miles west of Baghdad, is a predominantly Sunni Muslim community that benefited greatly from industrial projects under Saddam Hussein.