IRAQ: FALLUJAH

Chicago Tribune: At Least 200 Iraqi Troops Abandon Fallujah Offensive

U.S. military officials said Monday that at least 200 Iraqi troops had deserted their posts in the American-led offensive on Fallujah.

The troops supporting the nation's interim government are facing pressure from some Iraqi religious groups and threats from insurgents.

Prominent Iraqi Muslim clerics, including influential Sunnis and top aides to rebel Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, condemned the Iraqi troops serving alongside Americans in Fallujah. The insurgent council that has controlled Fallujah for the past six months threatened to behead Iraqi troops who entered the city to "fight their own people."