Newsgroup: it.politica.internazionale
Titolo: Un giornalista a Falluja

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/3748966.stm
Published: 2004/10/16 12:15:12 GMT
Inside besieged Falluja
Residents of the rebel-held city of Falluja in Iraq are packing their
bags and leaving town after one of the heaviest US bombardments for
weeks.
BBC News Online spoke by phone to a reporter in the city, contacted by
the BBC's Arabic Service, who gave the following account of life
there.
The mood in the city is grim.
It is start of Ramadan, but there is nowhere to celebrate and no food
to celebrate with.
 Falluja's most popular kebab restaurant used to be the place to go at
the end of the day to break the Ramadan fast - but that was bombed by
the Americans this week.
Many families have used a lull in the bombing to leave the city.
Fighters are engaged in skirmishes with US forces in the eastern and
southern areas. US positions are about half a kilometre from Falluja.
No single militia force controls the whole city.
Different clans in the city have their own militias but they all seem
to be working together to fend off US forces.
The people of Falluja are very clannish - but they have also always
been very religious and right now faith is a stronger bond than
family.
Police and militias
Two elements have been running the affairs of the city - the police
force and local militias.
Relations between the two are good - I have seen policemen on the
streets chatting to the fighters.
In fact, relations between local fighters and police have always been
good - a deal struck some months ago means the police are welcome in
the city provided they do not take orders from the Americans.
There are more police on the streets than usual - possibly to protect
the property of residents who are leaving the city.
But the risk of looting is small - the local militias have a
reputation for being very tough with the criminals.
No foreign fighters
I am not aware of any foreign fighters in Falluja.
If there are any foreigners here, they have blended in very well with
the locals.
Foreigners used to frequent the city in the past, but many of them
were forced to leave under a deal the city's leaders struck with the
government.
Ninety-nine percent of the fighters here are Fallujans.
Local clan leaders are broadly opposed to any kind of foreign presence
in the city because they fear they may be spies.
Supplies exhausted
Hospitals have all but run out of supplies and most people know this.
But still the injured are being taken there - just so that they can be
near the doctors and receive some comfort.
The Iraqi health ministry has not sent any extra supplies.
Food supplies are also running out. All shops are shut.
Some people who fled the city a few days ago have begun returning
because they ran out of food.
They are coming back even as more and more people are trying to leave.
'Not a sectarian issue'
The ordinary people of Falluja still want a peaceful solution - but
they knew war was inevitable when [the un-elected] Prime Minister Iyad
Allawi issued his ultimatum earlier this week.
That's when they started stocking up on food.
The people believe they are being targeted because they inflicted
heavy casualties on US forces during the siege earlier this year.
They say the Americans are attacking them because of wounded pride.
They say they are motivated by revenge.
Most people in Falluja believe the Baghdad government is divided into
two camps.
They believe the president, Ghazi Yawer, is a Sunni and heads the
faction that wants to negotiate a solution to the crisis.
On the other side, they say, is Prime Minister Allawi, a Shia, who
believes military force is the only way ahead.
But many people in Falluja, though largely Sunni, dismiss this.
They say Mr Allawi may be a Shia, but this is not why he is at war
with Falluja.
They think he simply gives the order to batter Falluja because this is
what the Americans want.
Translation from Arabic by Jumbe Omari Jumbe of 
bbcarabic.com

 weeks.
Viene spontanea la domanda : ma se invece di farli soffrire un po per volta 
alleviassero le loro sofferenze tutte insieme ?
Come faceva Saddam ? 

 Come faceva Saddam ?
Sembra che i masticabibbie preferiscano l'eutanasia stile Guernica.