15 Killed In Fallujah Air Strikes; British Muslim Leaders In Iraq

FALLUJAH, Iraq (AFP) - At least 15 people were killed in US air strikes on suspected Iraq hideouts of an Al-Qaeda linked group holding a Briton hostage as British Muslim leaders kicked off a mission aimed at negotiating to secure his release.
Egypt was also striving to secure the release of telecom employees kidnapped last week, as diplomats met with Sunni Muslim clerics in Baghdad and the hostages' company reportedly offered a ransom.
The latest air strike on the rebel stronghold of Fallujah targeted what the US military called a meeting place for operatives of presumed Al-Qaeda chief in Iraq Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, whose Tawhid wal Jihad (Unity and Holy War) group is blamed for a string of suicide bombings and kidnappings.
"Intelligence sources indicated that approximately 10 terrorists were meeting at this location to plan operations targeting innocent Iraqi civilians and multi-national forces," the US military said.
Two hospitals in the city reported receiving eight dead and 22 wounded including women and children, while residents said many victims remained under the rubble.
At least two homes in the area were destroyed while others suffered significant damage.
An earlier air strike on a suspected Zarqawi hideout killed seven Iraqis and wounded 11, including women and children.
In further violence Saturday, one Iraqi was killed and four people wounded when a mortar shell ploughed into a busy shopping district of Baghdad, police said.
Police also reported a farmer was killed when he got caught in clashes between US troops and insurgents near the restive town of Baquba, north of Baghdad.
On Saturday, seven Iraqis -- national guard recruits -- died in a rebel attack near the capital.
Iraqi security forces have been the target of frequent attacks by insurgents groups who consider them as traitors for working hand in glove with the US-led coalition.
But deep resentment -- especially in Iraq's Sunni heartland -- towards Iraqi forces is only one of the problems facing the fledgling national security apparatus.
On Sunday, the US military announced it had detained a senior Iraqi national guard commander for eastern Iraq over suspected links with the insurgency.
The officer, a former general in Saddam Hussein's army, was the highest-profile Iraqi serviceman detained over involvement in anti-coalition attacks.
In the same area the commander was in charge of, Iraqi police recently detained four suspected operatives of Zarqawi's network.
Two leaders from the Muslim Council of Britain arrived in Baghdad Saturday to kick off a mission aimed at establishing contact with the captors of 62-year-old engineer Kenneth Bigley.
It was not known exactly who they were scheduled to meet, but the organisation's leader in London said Saturday Daud Abdullah and Musharraf Hussain would hold talks with various religious and political leaders.
The Briton's two US colleagues were beheaded by Tawhid wal Jihad and Bigley's family has made heart-rending pleas for his release.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair said Saturday "we'll continue to do all we can for Ken Bigley."
He also warned that "there is no point in raising false hopes because of the nature of the people we're dealing with".
Meanwhile Egypt also engaged in intensive efforts to obtain the release of six Egyptians nabbed last week.
Faruq Mabrouk, who heads the Egyptian interest section in Baghdad, held talks with Muthana al-Dhari, the head of the Committee of Muslim Scholars, but declined to comment after the meeting.
The talks came as an Egyptian newspaper said Orascom -- the Egyptian telecom giant employing the six hostages -- offered a ransom to the kidnappers.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the abudctions.
Two were kidnapped on Thursday in Baghdad while the other four were snatched in western Iraq on Wednesday, together with two Iraqis employed by the company's local branch Iraqna.
According to the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, the two Iraqis were released immediately, but the information could not be independently confirmed.
In New York, visiting Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi pledged that Iraq's own forces would secure the country in time for January elections, but demanded broader participation from the international community.
"I appeal to all representatives from the countries gathered here to help Iraq defeat the forces of terrorism and help Iraq build a better future for the people of Iraq," Allawi told the UN General Assembly Saturday.
US Secretary of State Colin Powell has told the New York Times that Allawi wanted to organise a conference including G-8 and Middle Eastern countries in October to boost Iraq's electoral process.
Allawi insisted elections would go ahead as planned, but even US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged that no-go zones like Fallujah might have to be excluded from the voting.
US President George W. Bush on Saturday called US opponents in Iraq some of the most brutal men on earth and acknowledged that serious problems remained in many Iraqi cities.