Take It As Red

"I saw the city and al-Andalus destroyed," said Ali Mahmood, 35, referring to the district of the city he returned to briefly Thursday but now plans to leave after seeing the mess.



"My house is completely destroyed. There is nothing left for me to stay for," the teacher said, adding that he would rather live in the tented camp outside Falluja that has been his family's home for the past two months.


Some 2,000 Iraqis, who fled a U.S.-led offensive on Falluja more than a month ago, are returning to the Sunni Muslim city although sporadic fighting persists in some areas, Iraqi ministers said. (Akram Saleh/Reuters)

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, on a suprise pre-Christmas visit to Iraq, visited troops at a base near Falluja Friday but made no mention of the city's rebuilding.