The Inside Assyria Discussion Forum

=> From a friend......

From a friend......
Posted by Tiglath (Guest) - Sunday, November 14 2004, 3:07:35 (CET)
from 203.214.70.217 - 203.214.70.217 - Windows XP - Internet Explorer
Website:
Website title:

Why is no one crying out for justice for the many innocent killed in Falluja? I cry every day for the many innocent civilians lost. We Iraqis, we are all brothers and sisters - every innocent Iraqi killed is another part of our hearts taken from us! The occupiers have destroyed the hospitals in Falluja and will not release the numbers of those killed. They label everyone killed, even the civilians, as "resistance." My Kurdish friend even says that if she were living in Falluja right now, she, too, would take up arms against the occupation. All humans with justice in their souls must condemn what is happening in Falluja! It is genocide!

---------------------------------------------------------
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3446138E-B943-48E8-A083-10C6F5EDD5CA.htm
Falluja plunges into humanitarian crisis


Saturday 13 November 2004, 1:52 Makka Time, 22:52 GMT



Aid agencies have called on US forces to allow them to deliver food, medicine and water to Falluja's besieged citizens, calling the situation in the city a big disaster.



The Iraqi Red Crescent Society, which receives support from foreign agencies including the Red Cross and Unicef, said on Friday it had asked US forces and Iraq's interim government to let them deliver relief goods to Falluja and establish medical centres there.

But it had received no reply, it said.

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

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

Civilian accounts

Luai Mansur Abd al-Karim, a Falluja resident who fled his home to a nearby suburb, told Aljazeera about the plight facing citizens in the city.

"The majority of them have stayed in the streets, in the open air," he said. "They have no food, no shelter. Life necessities are very little.

"Humanitarian organisations cannot reach these families as all roads leading to the city and its suburbs are closed. Anyone who walks in the streets exposes his life to danger and his vehicle to being bombed.

"US forces have cordoned off the city and all its suburbs. They are conducting group killings and eliminations in Falluja and its suburbs. These families cannot go anywhere," he said.

A US military spokesman said the Red Crescent had permission to help refugees in towns around Falluja, but could not say if it had granted access to the city itself.

Awaiting go-ahead

The Red Crescent has seven teams of doctors and relief workers, backed by trucks of food and other relief supplies ready to go into each of Falluja's districts when the word is given.



The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Friday it was seriously worried about the plight of civilians caught up in the Falluja fighting.

"According to the information we have received, some civilians are still trapped in Falluja," ICRC spokeswoman Rana Sidani said. "We are very worried about their fate."

The Iraqi Red Crescent is currently providing help to about 40,000 of the city's inhabitants who have fled the fighting, the ICRC said.

In Falluja, "because of the fighting and the absence of medical staff, two medical centres which are not in the part of the city occupied by [US-led] allied forces are no longer functioning," she said.

Combatants' responsibility

"All those taking part in the combat have a responsibility to spare civilians and give access to the wounded," Sidani added.

About 10,000 US soldiers, backed by heavy artillery and warplanes, surged into Falluja on Monday night, launching an attack against resistance fighters.

Scores of buildings in Falluja have been completely destroyed, with TV footage showing some districts all but levelled. There has been no water and electricity for days and food shops have been closed. The stench of dead bodies is hanging over some areas of the city, residents said.

In one case earlier this week, a nine-year-old boy died after being hit in the stomach by shrapnel. Unable to reach a hospital, he died hours later of blood loss.

No medicine, doctors

"Anyone who gets injured is likely to die because there's no medicine and they can't get to doctors," said Abd al-Hamid Salim, a volunteer with the Iraqi Red Crescent. "There are snipers everywhere. Go outside and you're going to get shot."

Rasul Ibrahim, a father of three, fled Falluja on Thursday morning and arrived with his wife and children in Habbaniya, about 20km to the west, on Thursday night.

He said families left in the city were in desperate need.

"There's no water. People are drinking dirty water. Children are dying. People are eating flour because there's no proper food," he told aid workers in Habbaniya, which has become a refugee camp, with about 2000 families sheltering there.

Ubadi said many families taking refuge in Habbaniya and other villages nearby were suffering from diarrhoea and malnutrition and needed medicine as well as basic necessities such as lentils, sugar, bread, tea and candles.

-------------------------------------------
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/401E0663-98DE-40BE-A40D-1C77082524A1.htm
AMS decries clerics' silence on Falluja


Friday 12 November 2004, 16:21 Makka Time, 13:21 GMT


The Association of Muslim Scholars in Iraq has called on religious leaders to condemn the ongoing US military assault on Falluja.


Speaking to Aljazeera on Friday, Muthanna Harith al-Dhari, head of information and cultural affairs of the Association of Muslim Scholars (AMS), said there is a political campaign to silence those critical of the "unjustified operation in Falluja".

"All the events that happened on Thursday - the storming the houses of the AMS General Secretary Shaikh al-Dhari and Shaikh al-Qubaisi, raiding al-Shuhada mosque and arresting Shaikh Mahdi al-Sumaidai along with members of the Shura Council - come in the context of a campaign aimed at silencing these voices and preventing them from exposing what is taking place in Falluja now," al-Dhari told Aljazeera.

Al-Dhari said Iraqis are puzzled by the silence of religious scholars who have not condemned what is taking place in Falluja.

On Thursday, Shaikh Mahdi al-Sumaidai, imam of Ibn Taimiya mosque in Baghdad, said he blamed Shia cleric Ayat Allah Ali al-Sistani for his silence on the events taking place in Falluja.

Gatherings planned

"What's happening now requires a clear statement that condemns all the crimes committed in this city," al-Dhari said. "No other place has witnessed such crimes."

He said earlier statements that condemned the military operations in al-Sadr city, Najaf, Karbala and other Iraqi cities were issued by all Islamic and non-Islamic religious clerics, "proving the unity of the Iraqis and their religious authorities".

"We are hoping that all Islamic and non-Islamic religious authorities comment on what's happening in Falluja", al-Dhari said.

The AMS official added that meetings will be held on Friday in many areas in Baghdad to condemn what is happening in the town.

The Falluja offensive, which started on Monday, is the largest military operation since last year's US-led invasion.



---------------------


The full topic:



Content-length: 8301
Content-type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Accept: image/gif, image/x-xbitmap, image/jpeg, image/pjpeg, application/vnd.ms-excel, application/vnd.ms-powerpoint, applicatio...
Accept-encoding: gzip, deflate
Accept-language: en-au
Cache-control: no-cache
Connection: Keep-Alive
Cookie: *hidded*
Host: www.insideassyria.com
Referer: http://www.insideassyria.com/rkvsf3/rkvsf_core.php?.GQgh.
User-agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 6.0; Windows NT 5.1; .NET CLR 1.1.4322)



Powered by RedKernel V.S. Forum 1.2.b9