About 1,000 U.S. Marines, sailors and soldiers encircled this Euphrates River city in the troubled Anbar province before dawn on Wednesday, launching the second major anti-insurgent operation in this vast western region in less than a month. The offensives are aimed at uprooting insurgents who have killed more than 620 people since a new Iraqi government was announced on April 28. "We believe there are many infiltrators, many terrorists, that are stepping through the borders carrying out terrorist attacks against innocent Iraqis," Zebari was quoted as saying by The Associated Press at a joint news conference with visiting Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini. Earlier this month, American forces conducted a weeklong anti-insurgent operation in the city of Qaim and other Iraqi towns.
