Iraq PM urges Fallujah to expel militants

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki urged Fallujah residents to expel “terrorists” holding the city to avoid an assault by security forces. A senior official told Agence France-Presse that Iraq is preparing a “major attack” to retake Fallujah, which has been outside government control for days. Parts of Anbar provincial capital Ramadi are also held by Al-Qaeda-linked fighters. State television reported Maliki called on “the people of Fallujah and its tribes to expel the terrorists” so “their areas are not subjected to the danger of armed clashes.” Security forces are also ordered not to strike residential areas in Fallujah. It is the first time militants have exercised such open control in major cities since the height of the insurgency that followed the US-led invasion of 2003.

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