'Half of Iraqis killed in Fallujah were civilians'

Fouad Rawi, senior member of the Iraqi Islamic Party spearheading efforts to negotiate a ceasefire in the city west of Baghdad, quoted hospital sources as saying more than 600 Iraqis had been killed and 1,250 wounded.

"Among those killed were 160 women, 141 children and many elderly," he told AFP, providing the first precise figures on the number of civilian deaths from the nearly week-long offensive.

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But US officials said it was impossible to determine how many civilians had died in the drive by US marines in the Sunni Muslim bastion before a ceasefire took hold over the weekend.

They also stressed their forces used precision weapons to minimise the risk of hitting civilians as they sought to root out insurgents following the brutal murders of four US contractors in Fallujah on March 31.

The offensive, which sent thousands of residents fleeing to the desert, drew considerable criticism from even staunch US supporters among the Iraqis who said it amounted to collective punishment of civilians.

But Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, the coalition's deputy director of military operations, said Monday the blame lay with the insurgents.