Fallujah leaders condemn gruesome murders amid US threats of revenge

AFP | 4/02/04

[kattracks]

Town leaders in troubled Fallujah denounced the gruesome murder of four American contractors here, as imams decided to devote Friday prayers to condemn such acts considered sins in Islam.

Police and paramilitary forces were deployed across Fallujah, setting up checkpoints at main entrances to the dusty town west of Baghdad, with many anticipating the harsh retaliation vowed by the US Army.

In an apparent move to ease tensions and avoid escalation, town leaders rushed to denounce Wednesday's grisly killings as residents headed to mosques for Friday weekly prayers expected to issue similar condemnation.

"The City Council held a meeting late last night to condemn the acts of mutilation of the bodies," council president Saadallah al-Rawi told AFP.

"We will distribute a statement to that effect later today," he said.

Rawi also said "imams across Fallujah have decided to make a unified Friday sermon today that will condemn the mutilation of the bodies, based on the holy Koran and the teachings of Prophet Mohammed, which prohibit them."

Many Fallujah residents expressed dismay at the mutilation of the bodies which they considered against Muslim teachings, although some justified the acts as a reaction to army raids on homes and mosques in the town.

On Thursday, the army recovered remains of the four slain Americans, after police officers gathered dismembered body parts from various locations around the town, 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Baghdad.

The four were killed in an ambush by armed insurgents in downtown Fallujah, located in the so-called Sunni Triangle region where insurgents are leading a battle against US-led occupation forces.

Following the attack charred bodies were dismembered and publicly paraded by jubilant residents in this town located in the so-called Sunni triangle where insurgents are waging a fierce battle against US-led occupation forces.

Graphic pictures and footage of the macabre killings and mutilation filled airwaves and newspapers, shocking viewers around the world and prompting Iraqi officials to issue stern condemnations.

Iraq's interim Governing Council denounced the killings as a "savage" act that did not represent the Iraqi people.

Council member Samir Sumaidai said "what happened in Fallujah represents the worst of savage behaviour."

"What happened is very far away from the nature of Iraq and Islam," said Rosch Schaways, deputy to Kurdish leader and council member Massoud Barzani.

US officials have vowed a forceful response to the murders.

Speaking at a graduation ceremony at Baghdad's police academy on Thursday, an angry Paul Bremer, the US overseer in Iraq, said: "Their deaths will not go unpunished."

Top US military spokesman Mark Kimmitt said "we will respond. It is going to be deliberate and precise and it will be overwhelming.

"We will re-establish control and will pacify that city," he added. "It will be at the time and place of our choosing."

Replaying scenes from Fallujah, US televisions noted the similarities with the abuse meted out to the corpses of American soldiers killed in Somalia in 1993 in an ill-fated raid depicted in the book and movie "Black Hawk Down."

Pictures of a dead US serviceman being dragged through the streets of Mogadishu aired constantly on US television at the time, and led to the eventual evacuation of US forces from Somalia.

[kattracks]

"We will distribute a statement to that effect later today," he said.

Forget the statements.

Turn over to American forces all of the filth who participated in this savagery.

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[dennisw]

Running scared ........Sweet little nothings from the Saddam and Gomorrah of Iraq.

[freeangel]

"town leaders denounce"

Islam is encouraged to lie to all non-muslims. Actions speak louder than words and somebody knows who did it. Turn the pigs over immediately.

[Amelia]

"The City Council held a meeting late last night to condemn the acts of mutilation of the bodies," council president Saadallah al-Rawi told AFP. "We will distribute a statement to that effect later today," he said.

I agree, kat, words mean nothing.

They need to prove they believe this by finding the perpetrators and dealing with them appropriately.

SOON.

And if they can't or won't, we will. Which might be better anyway.

[Aeronaut]

"The City Council held a meeting late last night to condemn the acts of mutilation of the bodies,"

"imams across Fallujah have decided to make a unified Friday sermon today that will condemn the mutilation of the bodies..."

Many Fallujah residents expressed dismay at the mutilation of the bodies...

What about the murders? Do you have no condemnation of the murders?

[boomop1]

They disapprove burning the SUV one of them wanted it.

[MEG33]

They denounce mutilations..not the murders.The lives of those men ,protecting food shipments,for heavens sake,need to be valued by the Imams,too.

[MEG33]

Exactly.The headline put words in the mouths of the forked tongued imams.

[Amelia]

The lives of those men ,protecting food shipments,for heavens sake,need to be valued by the Imams,too.

It would be very easy to ensure that no more food was shipped into Fallujah though.

[woofer]

I agree, kat, words mean nothing.

If a muslim's lips are moving when one speaks to an "infidel", the safe assumption is that there is at least one lie coming forth, or everything being said are lies. But that's just based on my experience from my time in Saudi Arabia.

Another important thing about the statements from the "town leaders" and "imans" is that they don't condemn the attacks or future attacks, just the mutilation parts of a past act.

Bastards.

[MrBambaLaMamba]

End terrorism, kill terrorists.



Kill them all.

[I still care]

Isn't it convenient, all those barbarians parading in front of the camera?

The coalition probably have a great deal of the names already. If they were upset about "raids", well, now they are just going to get more accurate ones.

[leadhead]

Council member Samir Sumaidai said "what happened in Fallujah represents the worst of savage behaviour

Uh, I think he meant to say...typical behavior of the barbarians and sub-humans that subscribe to this dirtball religion and have found themselves creating their own hell on earth.

[Axelsrd]

Are these the same leaders who were dancing in the streets after the slaughter??? I say...level the town.

[GailA]

A statement won't cut it. Turn them over. Unlike saddam we won't level your entire town and kill every man woman and child in it, but we want justice and that means the animals who did this must be turned over to us.

[BuckeyeOhio]

Minimally, the US should completely destroy the bridge they used to hang these poor people. That would be my first objective - then, hopefully, they will turn over all the people responsible for this outrage against humanity.

If they decide not to turn over those responsible, then continue taking out more buildings in that town - each day another building.

[kittymyrib]

When did we in the US see the mutilated bodies? No, our partisan media censors news it doesn't want us to see because they think that we are not able to handle the truth, doncha know. So only the network officials have seen the pictures that the rest of the world has seen. I think it's way past time that Americans had the chance to grow up and face the world as it really is instead of the networks allowing us to continue living in the Wonderful World of Disney. Obviously, they do not want us to realize that we are in a war with fanatics who hate and want to kill every American.

[listenhillary]

Sorry - TOO F'n LATE!

Glad you took lots of pictures ya stupid aholes

[Diogenesis]

The networks are with the terrorists (ABC, CBS) or owned by
terrorist companies and the French (NBC).