Sunni Muslims leave the mosque after Friday prayers in Ramadi
Sunni Muslims leave the mosque after Friday prayers in Ramadi, January 10, 2014. The prospect of an imminent Iraqi army assault on Falluja receded on Friday as negotiators tried to work out a deal under which al Qaeda militants who seized the city 10 days ago would give way to Sunni Muslim tribal leaders. Militants of the al Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which is also fighting in neighbouring Syria, took control of Falluja and parts of nearby Ramadi on January 1 with the help of sympathetic armed tribesmen. At least 60 civilians, militants and tribal fighters have been killed in the two cities since the trouble erupted, 43 of them in Ramadi and 17 in Falluja, health officials in Anbar province said. They had no word on military casualties. REUTERS/Ali al-Mashhadani (IRAQ - Tags: CIVIL UNREST POLITICS RELIGION)