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Troops find al-Zarqawi letter in safe house
Allawi spokesman: 'Battle for Falluja won'
Thursday, November 18, 2004 Posted: 10:09 AM EST (1509 GMT)


BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- During recent house-to-house raids in southeast Falluja, U.S. and Iraqi forces uncovered what appeared to be an abandoned safe house used by insurgents loyal to both al Qaeda and wanted terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

There were two letters inside the house, one from al-Zarqawi giving instructions to two of his lieutenants in the region. Another sought money and help from the terrorist leader.

Thair al-Nakib, a spokesman for interim Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, said the battle for Falluja has been won by U.S. and Iraqi forces and that the city is no longer a terror stronghold.

In an effort to rebuild the city, Allawi issued orders for the governor of Al Anbar province to build new headquarters for the civil administration, for the chief of police to reconstruct the local forces, and for medical teams to head to Falluja to render health services.

U.S. and Iraqi troops have been conducting door-to-door searches in Falluja following a major offensive in the former militant Sunni stronghold. The offensive started early last week.

It is believed that the two lieutenants mentioned in the letters lived in the house the troops found. It is unclear whether they escaped the violence or were killed in recent battles.

Symbols pledging loyalty to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network also adorned the walls of the house. Dead fighters still lay outside the house, where bombs pounded the area in recent weeks.

Last month, a statement attributed to al-Zarqawi's Unification and Jihad movement declared allegiance to al Qaeda.

Unification and Jihad has claimed responsibility for the killings of numerous Westerners in Iraq, including the recent slayings of two Americans and a Briton kidnapped in September.

U.S. and Iraqi authorities have said they believed al-Zarqawi's terrorist network was based in Falluja, but they have acknowledged the group's leaders likely left the city ahead of the offensive.

Al-Zarqawi has a $25 million reward posted for his capture or death. That's also the amount offered for bin Laden.

In a separate raid Thursday, the joint forces discovered a car bomb-making workshop in Falluja's industrial section where a sport-utility vehicle with a Texas registration sticker was being converted into a car bomb.

The SUV was sitting in a warehouse surrounded by "bags and bags" of explosive materials. It was being gutted and packed with explosives.

The vehicle had no license plate, but some 15 license plates were inside.

Although Falluja is secured, troops remain busy mopping up operations and engaging in sporadic fights with holdout insurgents.

An Iraqi Ministry of Health official said Baghdad hospitals received 64 wounded and 14 killed in this week's fighting in Falluja, which is 30 miles (48 km) west of the Iraqi capital.

Seven children were among those wounded, and three children were among those killed, the official said.