Annan says assault on Fallujah would further alienate Iraqis

UNITED NATIONS -- UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has warned leaders of the United States, Britain, and Iraq that another full-scale assault on the rebel-held city of Fallujah would further alienate Iraqis and disrupt elections planned for January.

Annan's warning, contained in a letter sent Sunday, has angered some officials here.

"This is an issue for the government of Iraq," said Emyr Jones Parry, the British ambassador to the UN.

"It's easy for those not in Iraq to underestimate the overwhelming concern the Iraqis have for security. There cannot be an area as big as Fallujah which is allowed to be a base for terrorism."

Some diplomats said Iyad Allawi, Iraq's interim prime minister, was "furious" when he received the letter. Iraq's new ambassador to the UN immediately made an appointment with Annan to declare the letter an interference. Allawi recently has criticized Annan for not doing enough to help Iraq prepare for elections.

Annan's letter highlighted a fundamental disagreement between the US-led coalition and the UN about how best to bring stability to Iraq. UN officials have maintained that Iraq is not secure enough for more UN workers to help organize the nationwide elections.

US, British, and Iraqi leaders say regaining control of the insurgent stronghold is the only way to secure the country before the election. But Annan said in his Oct. 31 letter that another invasion of Fallujah would only create more enemies and provoke an election boycott by Sunni Muslims.

In the letter to Allawi, President Bush, and Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain, Annan acknowledged the need to restore security in Iraq but said a political process that included people not represented in the interim government would be the best foundation for stability.

"The threat or actual use of force not only risks deepening the sense of alienation of certain communities, but would also reinforce perceptions among the Iraqi population of a continued military occupation," he wrote, according to a copy of the letter obtained by a reporter.

Annan declined to comment yesterday on the letter, saying it was "a privileged communication."

As US-led forces massed at the outskirts of Fallujah in mid-October, Allawi demanded that residents hand over militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi or face a full-scale attack on the city.