US forces conducted a major offensive in the region in November to retake control of Fallujah, 50km east of Ramadi. American troops continue fighting skirmishes along the Euphrates, a major infiltration route for foreign fighters sneaking into the country from Syria to fight under the banner of al-Qaida in Iraq, the creation of Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi.
A major focus of US operations in Anbar province, a senior American military officer has said, was to help the Iraqis regain control of a 400km stretch of Syrian border on either side of the city of Qaim. The official said it was imperative that the border be closed to insurgents before the Oct. 15 referendum on Iraq's new constitution.
Much of the minority Sunni political and religious leadership -- and now some Shiite leaders -- oppose the proposed charter. But the new basic law got a major boost this week, winning support from Iraq's most revered Shiite leader, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
In the southern city of Basra, meanwhile, an Iraqi government delegation from Baghdad was meeting with a provincial commission to examine evidence about anti-British rioting in the city Monday and serious tensions that have developed between local authorities and British forces in the region.
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