FALLUJAH, Iraq, Oct 16 (AFP) - US and Iraqi troops surrounded the rebel bastion of Fallujah for a second straight day as a leader from the city said Saturday his delegation was willing to restart negotiations with the Iraqi government.
Some families fled the city and others returned home Saturday despite the perilous situation in Fallujah, where US air strikes target almost daily suspected safehouses of foreign fighter Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi.
In the most recent strike on Friday night, a marine aircraft bombed a building on the city's southern outskirts where ground troops were taking fire, marine spokesman Lyle Gilbert told AFP.
There was no word on casualties. US air and artillery strikes hammered the city all day Thursday, heralding the debut of the biggest operation around Fallujah since April when marines stormed the city.
"This is a stepped up effort to provide security and stability. We continue to do that with ... checkpoints. The dynamic cordon around the city is doing a great job," Gilbert said, referring to two US infantry battalions and Iraqi special forces that have sealed off Fallujah.
In one sign of hope, local cleric Sheikh Abdul Hamid Jadua said that a Fallujah delegation was ready to return to bargaining with the government, but conditioned the resumption of talks on a halt to US air strikes and the release of fellow negotiator Sheikh Khaled Hamoud.
Jadua claimed Hamoud was detained by the Americans Friday but the US military has declined to confirm or deny the information.
"We're submitting these two demands to the government through the media. We are waiting for a reply," Jadua said.
The cleric's delegation walked away from talks Thursday amid a blistering US air campaign and provocative comments made by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi that Fallujah had to relinquish Zarqawi or face invasion.
"People are genuinely upset by Mr. Allawi's threat," Jadua said.
For its part, the Iraqi national government said its doors were open to Fallujah negotiators despite the stormy breakdown in talks.
"I always say our doors, our hands are open to all of our people whether in Fallujah, Mosul or anywhere else," National Security Advisor Kassem Daoud told AFP late Friday.
Meanwhile, Fallujah enjoyed an eerie calm Saturday. Residents described soldiers as setting up checkpoints at different entrances to the city for a few hours and then suddenly moving them.
Residents could come and go despite the cordon. Some families returned home after running away from the city in recent weeks.
"We left two weeks ago, but we decided to return home because the rent was too high in other towns," said one man who gave his name as Mohammed.
Alaa al-Janabi and his mother have ventured back to their battle-scarred neighborhood of Al-Askari.
"If I am going to die, then at least it will be in my home," Janabi's elderly mother said, in a street that resembles a ghost town.