FALLUJAH, Iraq — U.S. troops will begin patrols with Iraqi security forces in Fallujah, the military said Sunday, as the United States backed down from warnings of an all-out assault that could spark new bloodshed and deepen anti-American sentiment.
The patrols are to begin as early as Tuesday, and Fallujah officials will announce in the city that anyone seen carrying a weapon will be considered hostile, the military said.
Meanwhile, a U.S. general told The Associated Press that troops will move into a base on the edge of the holy city of Najaf that Spanish troops will abandon when they withdraw from Iraq in the coming weeks. But the Americans will remain away from holy sites — an effort to avoid outraging Iraq’s Shiite majority, which opposes any U.S. foray near their most sacred shrine.
Brig. Gen. Mark Hertling said the troops aimed to "counter the forces" of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. A coalition spokesman, Dan Senor, said weapons were being stockpiled in mosques and schools in Najaf, a practice he said must stop.
The measures in Fallujah and Najaf were announced a day after President Bush held a teleconference with senior national security and military advisers to discuss the situation in Fallujah and the rest of Iraq.
The moves appeared aimed at bringing a degree of control over the cities without re-igniting the intense violence that began when U.S. authorities moved on the two fronts simultaneously at the start of April.
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