Falluja Truce Holds, Nine Americans Missing in Iraq

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http://www.reuters.com/news.jhtml
Falluja Truce Holds, Nine Americans Missing in Iraq
Mon Apr 12, 2004 04:16 PM ET
By Fadel Badran
FALLUJA, Iraq (Reuters) - A shaky truce between U.S. Marines and Sunni Muslim guerrillas held in Falluja Monday after further talks to calm Iraq's bloodiest fighting since the fall of Saddam Hussein, and the U.S. military said two U.S. soldiers and seven American contractors were missing.

Three Japanese were among foreigners being held by guerrillas, and three Czech journalists became the latest foreigners to disappear.

Mohsen Abdel Hamid, a member of Iraq's U.S.-appointed Governing Council, said 12 foreign hostages had been freed after the Association of Muslim Clerics issued an edict condemning hostage-taking. He did not give the nationalities.

China's official news agency said seven Chinese nationals kidnapped in Iraq had been released and taken to a "secret place." There was no independent confirmation.
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