Thousands of US-Iraqi forces strike another rebel enclave in Iraq

BAGHDAD (AFP) - More than 3,000 US and Iraqi forces launched an offensive on another rebel enclave in Iraq as Prime Minister Iyad Allawi pledged new plans to crush insurgents before promised January elections.
Back after a lengthy trip overseas, Allawi expressed optimism that control could be restored nationwide in time for the polls, but fresh bombings rocked insurgent strongholds north and west of the capital.
And a hostage crisis refused to disappear, with the prime minister promising visiting British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw that he was doing everything possible to secure the release of a kidnapped Briton threatened with death.
The US-led military announced that it has begun a joint operation with Iraqi troops in Babil province, southwest of Baghdad.
They moved "against multiple targets across the central Iraqi province in a continuing campaign to restore security and stability here," it said.
The action came just days after US and Iraqi forces unleashed their largest post-war military onslaught against the restive city of Samarra, north of the capital, wresting control from the hands of insurgents in a two-day battle that left almost 150 people dead.
This time, US military spokesmen were unable to give an immediate idea if there had been any casualties in the operation.
Centred on the mainly Shiite town of Hilla, Babil province includes a series of Sunni towns immediately south of the capital that have been bastions of the insurgency plaguing US-led troops virtually since last year`s invasion.
US and Iraqi forces seized a suspected insurgent training camp and took control of the Jurf al-Skhar bridge, according to the military.
Iraqi officials have spoken increasingly of a desire to wrest control of rebel-held areas in the country to allow full elections to be held on time.
"We must have a suitable atmosphere for the conduct of elections and the security situation requires exceptional" forces, Allawi told Iraq`s interim parliament earlier in the day.
"Therefore, the government has decided to establish new plans for achieving the security and for chasing those who are trying to prevent us from achieving this national job," he said.
The hawkish premier, who spent two-and-a-half weeks abroad that included talks with his top US and British allies, did not elaborate on his plans.
He stressed that his government was still maintaining its January target date for the elections, despite growing doubts that they will be able to go ahead on a credible basis nationwide due to the daily bloodshed.
Sounding a warning to rebel enclaves, Allawi threatened to get tough with the restive cities of Fallujah and Ramadi if talks with local leaders there failed to bring them under control.
"Our position is clear: People must abide by the law and put down their weapons," he told a small group of reporters later.
"Otherwise the government will have to resort to force to provide peace to people. We will not allow a few terrorists to hurt the Iraqi people."
Underscoring the uphill struggle he faces, three Iraqis were killed and three wounded in the main northern city of Mosul in yet another car bomb attack targeting a US military convoy, police said.
Separately, police in the city said they discovered three headless bodies of Iraqis over the past 72 hours.
In addition, seven Iraqis were wounded along with one American soldier when a second convoy struck a roadside bomb in Ramadi, the military said.
Bombings against Iraqi and US forces are a favoured weapon of an insurgency that flared soon after last year`s US-led invasion. Islamic militants have also turned to hostage taking and beheading to drive home their message.
Britain`s top diplomat, Straw, on an unannounced trip to Iraq, met with Allawi in Baghdad where they discussed, among other issues, the recent kidnapping of British engineer Ken Bigley.
"We are trying our best to do whatever possible to help his release," Allawi told reporters after the meeting.
Bigley was snatched from his Baghdad home on September 16 along with two US colleagues, who have already been beheaded by their captors from suspected Al-Qaeda operative Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi`s Unity and Holy War group.
Before his talks in the capital, Straw travelled to the key oil centre of Kirkuk and then to Kurdistan where he met local leaders.
It was his third visit to the country since last year`s invasion and his first since the US-led occupation was formally wound up in June.
The unflinching support for Allawi from London and Washington could not hide continuing controversy over their original pretexts for war.
"To my knowledge, I have not seen any strong, hard evidence that links the two," Rumsfeld said overnight when asked about alleged connections between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden`s Al-Qaeda network, a key plank in the two allies` case for invading Iraq last year.
Rumsfeld, a crucial figure in President George W. Bush`s re-election bid, later said in a statement that his answer had been misunderstood.