The American Military commander in Iraq, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt today acknowledged that some Southern Iraqi cities remained largely in the hands of Shi'ite militants.
He said coalition forces were deliberately keeping a low profile during the current Shi'ite religious festival.
He also spoke about the situation in Faluja, where coalition troops have been battling with insurgents.
Coalition leaders reaffirm commitment to Iraq
US President George Bush spoke today by phone with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Polish and Salvadoran presidents Aleksander Kwasniewski and Francisco Flores.
The four leaders reaffirmed their commitment to a free and democratic Iraq, according to White House spokesman Scott McClellan.
Italy, Poland and El Salvador have troops participating in the US-led coalition force in Iraq, where forces have been engaged in a six-day onslaught to quell an uprising by insurgents.
Earlier, mortar rounds signalled the collapse of a truce called by US marines in the Iraqi city of Falluja.
Despite assurances from the Coalition Authority at a news conference that the ceasefire was holding, fierce fighting has continued in the town where 300 people have been killed this week.
The ceasefire was called to allow talks and aid to get through.
Condemnation has been growing over the US operation in Falluja, which followed the death of four Americans who were killed and mutilated there.
A senior Sunni Muslim member of the US-appointed Iraqi governing council, Adnan Pachachi, called the operation illegal and completely unacceptable.
Elsewhere in Iraq, insurgents say they have seized four Italians and two Americans on the western outskirts of Baghdad.
Nine people have been killed in an attack on a US convoy carrying fuel, west of Baghdad.
And US-led troops have regained control of Kut two days after Ukrainian forces withdrew after clashes with Shi'ite militiamen.
