The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) slammed the "utter contempt" for humanity shown by all sides in Iraq amid fierce fighting in Falluja.
Residents who fled the city gathered at a cemetery near the town of al-Saqlawiya, north of Falluja, in an attempt to identify the bodies. The Central Committee for Relief Aid transported the corpses by truck to the cemetery.
Fighting continues in Falluja, despite claims by US marines that they have wiped out "insurgents".
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"As hostilities continue in Falluja and elsewhere, every day seems to bring news of yet another act of utter contempt for the most basic tenet of humanity: the obligation to protect human life and dignity," he said.
"For the parties to this conflict, complying with international humanitarian law is an obligation, not an option," Kraehenbuehl said in an unusually tough statement by the relief agency.
[W]hile 10 days of fighting had deprived fighters a safe haven, a spokesman for interim Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi conceded that many of the city's resistance had dispersed, posing threats elsewhere that US and Iraqi authorities would have to counter.
Furthermore, a report leaked to The New York Times, quoting US marine officers in Falluja, warned of the outstanding resilience of fighters opposed to the presence of foreign troops in Iraq.
Fighters would continue to disrupt efforts to set up reliable Iraqi security forces and to hold an election in late January, the marine intelligence report was quoted as saying.
That would put pressure on US forces, who have already had to return troops from Falluja to other northern and western areas where some in the once dominant Sunni Muslim minority fear elections will hand power to Iraq's Shia majority.
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"They have been saying that Falluja is the source of and therefore the solution to their problems. The violence in Mosul has shown that to be a crassly stupid thing to say," Toby Dodge, an Iraq analyst at Queen Mary University of London, said.
"Insurgency is a national phenomenon fuelled by alienation. I don't think this war is winnable because they have alienated the base of support across Iraqi society."
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Meanwhile, attacks on US forces and Iraqi police continued unabated throughout Iraq.
And, the related stories....
The bodies of nine purported members of the Iraqi National Guard have been found in Mosul, where clashes between the troops, supported by US forces, and armed fighters continued for a third day.
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The men, discovered in an industrial area not far from the scene of some of the worst clashes in Mosul, appeared to have been executed, as they all had a bullet in the head and their bodies were also badly burned.
Three Iraqi policemen have been killed in heavy fighting out between armed fighters and Iraqi National Guards supported by US troops in western Baghdad.
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An Iraqi journalist in the area, Ziad Badruldin, told Aljazeera that he saw the al-Aadhamiya police station up in flames.
Badruldin, however, also said there are reports that the three were killed when their car was set ablaze near the al-Aadhamiya bridge.
Clashes, the reporter said, had also occurred in Antar Square. Other confrontations occurred in al-Gazaliya, al-Amariya and Haifa Street.
Badruldin said he saw destroyed US vehicles near the Abu Hanifa mosque.
Aljazeera aired video of a US armoured vehicle, believed to be a Hummer, destroyed by armed fighters in the clashes. Its occupants are believed to have been killed, but there has been no comment from US military authorities on the incident.
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Another Iraqi journalist Ziad al-Samarrai told Aljazeera that fierce clashes were spreading to other districts of the city including al-Dura.
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In related incidents, two blasts rocked Baghdad on Saturday morning.
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Aljazeera has also learned that an unknown armed group shot and killed an advisor to the interim Iraqi Ministry of Works and Public Affairs on Saturday in Baghdad.
Dr Amal Abd al-Hamid, her secretary, driver and bodyguard were all killed in the attack in the al-Qadisiyah neighbourhood.
Also on Saturday, five students were detained by Iraqi police at the Technology University of Baghdad. The arrest came in the wake of a demonstration at the university which called for an end to the "massacres and atrocities" committed in Falluja.
A group of national, political and religious groups in Iraq, including the Association of Muslim Scholars, have decided to boycott the elections due to be held early next year.
[Lieutenant General Lance Smith, deputy commander of the US Central Command] Smith also dropped hints that elections may not be held in Falluja.
"And so it could be that even without, say, a city like Falluja voting, that there will be adequate representation by the Sunnis to feel or look like it was legitimate representation for all the parties involved."
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The United States plans to extend tours of duty of more troops in Iraq to increase force levels through January elections, a top US general has said.
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Smith...said on Friday that additional troops may also be deployed if necessary to secure the country before the vote.
"We are talking mainly about extending some units," Smith said. "We will make further assessment as we get a little bit closer and understand what the impact of Falluja has been in the entire country."
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Elections may be held without certain problematic sectors voting, and more troops are going to be staying longer, and possibly more troops sent over.
Nicely done. Very nice indeed. Mission accomplished.
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