The Iraqi Red Crescent was directed by US military commanders to leave Fallujah on 5 December 2004, with American forces citing security concerns in a city that had been under a major US-led assault since 8 November.
Spokeswoman Ferdus al-Ibadi initially told reporters the organization had departed on its own initiative, but later corrected herself: she had only learned after the fact that US Marines had issued the order.
Before leaving, Red Crescent teams had reached roughly 1,500 residents with food, water, and blankets, a fraction of the roughly 300,000 people who lived in Fallujah before the offensive began. The organization said it would next serve displaced civilians in Karma, a town about three miles north, and planned further outreach in surrounding areas.
US military officials said the Red Crescent had itself requested an escort out of the city. After the departure, Marines secured the organization's headquarters, screened the men found inside, and detained approximately eight of them. Since the previous Thursday, forces had also been testing military-age males who sought food aid at the site for gunpowder residue.
The episode capped a period of friction between the Red Crescent and US forces over persistent obstacles to aid delivery inside the city.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in December 2004, in its own words.