Marines, Iraqi Forces Launch Offensive in Ramadi

Residents Face Checkpoints, Curfew; Simultaneous Raids Target Other Western Towns

BAGHDAD, Feb. 20 -- U.S. and Iraqi security forces surrounded the city of Ramadi in the violent Sunni Triangle area northwest of the capital Sunday in an effort to confront a simmering insurgency that has gripped the city and spilled into neighboring towns and villages in recent months.

U.S. Marines and Iraqi National Guardsmen set up checkpoints at the main entrances to Ramadi and established a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m., the U.S. military said. The forces launched simultaneous operations in the western towns of Hit, Baghdadi and Haditha along the Euphrates River, an area populated by Sunni Muslims loyal to deposed president Saddam Hussein.

Fighter planes roared over Ramadi as tanks and Humvees lumbered through the city. An Iraqi National Guardsman said nine people were arrested for alleged ties to Abu Musab Zarqawi, a Jordanian insurgent leader. His al Qaeda-linked group has a strong presence in Anbar province, where Ramadi and Fallujah are located.

A Marine spokesman, 1st Lt. Nathan J. Braden, said some insurgents had come to Ramadi after fleeing Fallujah when U.S. and Iraqi forces invaded in a massive ground assault in November. But most of the insurgents appear to be common criminals, he said.

"The extremists from Fallujah are not taking hold in Ramadi," Braden said.

The offensive followed two days of violent attacks against Shiite Muslims during Ashura, a religious observance that marks the death in 680 of Imam Hussein, grandson of the prophet Muhammad, in a battle that serves as a defining narrative in the Shiite faith. Ashura was banned under Hussein, a secular Sunni.

At least 60 people were killed and more than 100 wounded in suicide bombings on Friday and Saturday, said Col. Adnan Abdul Rahman, an Interior Ministry spokesman. The bombers struck people attending prayer services, traveling to religious festivals and participating in funeral processions.

The Interior Ministry initially reported that at least 30 people were killed and about 40 people were wounded in the attacks Saturday. On Sunday, the ministry raised the number of wounded to 103. The majority of the attacks occurred in Baghdad.

U.S. officials have said that most of the insurgents in Iraq are Sunni Muslims, including foreign fighters, as well as Baath Party loyalists who lost control of the government when the United States invaded Iraq in March 2003 and toppled the Hussein government.

Iraq's long-oppressed Shiite population is set to take a majority of seats in a new National Assembly elected Jan. 30.

Major political parties continued Sunday to bargain for top spots in the transitional government. Under Iraq's interim constitution, the 275-member parliament will choose a president and two deputy presidents who will, in turn, pick a prime minister. Their choice must be unanimous. The leadership will then select a cabinet.

The parties have not been able to agree on who should take the top positions.

"This is a very delicate, important process in view of the current situation in the country," said Emad Shabib, a former Iraqi air force general and exile who ran on the ticket of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. "We need to let the process take its course normally in order to have the meal cooked well and with the proper preparation to guarantee the rights of all sides, including those who did not take part in the elections."

Allawi's slate won 14 percent of the vote, giving it 40 seats in the parliament, behind the 140 seats won by a largely Shiite Muslim coalition backed by the country's most influential religious leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani. Officials expect the Shiite slate to attain the prime ministership.