On the eve of the assault on Falluja, the US military ordered troops to shoot any male on the street between the ages of 15 and 50 if they were seen as a security threat, regardless of whether they had a weapon.

The US military has prevented an aid convoy from reaching the besieged city of Falluja, a doctor based in Baghdad who accompanied the convoy says.

Two US soldiers have been killed and 13 wounded in separate attacks in Iraq as the interim Iraqi prime minister insisted violence was receding after the assault on Falluja.

Relief agencies which finally reached Falluja found a city in ruins and its remaining civilian population beleaguered and hungry.

Arab delegations to an international conference on Iraq have said it may be better to delay elections there beyond January to ensure full participation.