Iraq's Maliki says army won't attack Falluja, militants must go

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki speaks during an interview with Reuters in Baghdad January 12, 2014. REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Sunday ruled out a military assault on Falluja, saying he wanted to spare the city more carnage and give Sunni Muslim tribesmen time to expel al Qaeda-linked fighters.

"We want to end the presence of those militants without any bloodshed because the people of Falluja have suffered a lot," he told Reuters in an interview in Baghdad, referring to the devastating assaults by U.S. forces to evict insurgents in 2004.