US using cluster bombs in Fallujah

[FishForLunch]

So...how long before John Kerry and the Democrat Party begin to denounce American troops for being' "war criminals"

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A spokesman for an Iraqi delegation from the violence-gripped city of Fallujah on Monday accused US troops of using internationally banned cluster bombs against the city and said they had asked the United Nations to mediate the conflict.

Mohammed Tareq, a spokesman for the governing council of Fallujah and a member of the four-person delegation, said US military snipers were also responsible for the deaths of many children, women and elderly people.

"In Fallujah, the American troops killed at least 800 people and wounded 1,800," Tareq told reporters. "We want to inform the world about the massacres and the human rights violations by the Americans in our city."

The Iraqi delegation has been lobbying in the Jordanian capital for international pressure on the Americans to abide by a cease-fire in the battle-scarred city.

Tareq said the delegation had also sent a letter to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan asking the UN to mediate "to guarantee the commitment of the United States to its promises."

"The citizens of Fallujah love peace and hate terrorism, that is why we knocked on the doors of the United Nations," Tareq said.

A fragile two-week cease-fire was extended Sunday.

Tareq said the delegation also had contacts with Jordanian government officials and handed letters to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Arab League Secretary-general Amr Moussa.

But Jordanian State Minister and spokeswoman Asma Khader denied any government contact with the group.

"The government did not receive any request from any side to interfere," she said. "We hope that the siege of Fallujah ends as soon as possible."

US troops are expected to begin joint patrols with Iraqi security forces this week in Fallujah, a city 60 kilometers (40 miles) west of Baghdad where the fighting caused the US forces to impose a siege earlier this month. More than a third of the population of 200,000 fled the city.

U.S. officials say guerrillas in Fallujah have not abided by the cease-fire and have fired on US troops. The officials also say the insurgents are not surrendering their heavy weapons as the city negotiators urged them to do under the agreements.