BAGHDAD - A Sunni Muslim leader warned the US-led coalition it would face an uprising throughout Iraq if its forces attack the flashpoint city of Fallujah, besieged by US marines since April 5.

"I have an urgent message for US forces. You have overstepped the red line. Make sure you do not strike Fallujah again," Sheikh Ahmed Abdel Ghafur Samarrai said during Friday prayers at a Baghdad mosque.

US Marines from the First Battalion, 5th Marines, Bravo Company advance in the city of Fallujah. (AFP/Nicolas Asfouri)

"We will not allow the shedding of Iraqi blood. If you strike again, the whole of Iraq, from north to south, from east to west, will become Fallujah," Samarrai said.

Located 50 kilometers (30 miles) west of Baghdad, the Sunni city has been the scene of fierce fighting between coalition troops and insurgents for more than two weeks despite a ceasefire agreement with town leaders.

A total of 271 Iraqis and dozens of US marines have been killed there since the US forces besieged the city on April 5 following the slaying of four American contractors, according to official figures.

Amid the uneasy ceasefire, US forces have indicated they may take military action in the flashpoint city if insurgents do not hand over their heavy weapons within days.

The military complained Thursday that only "junk" had been turned in.

"A couple of weapons have been turned in today, far less than yesterday and generally the same low quality of those we saw yesterday," Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, the US-led coalition's deputy director of military operations, told reporters Friday.

Mediator Fuad Rawi, from the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party, which is represented on the US-appointed Governing Council, claimed that mortar launchers and rocket-propelled grenades had been handed over. "Obviously their (US troops) appetite has been whetted and they want more.

"Three carloads of weapons have been handed over so far and we hope that more will be handed over shortly and that all parties will keep their end of the deal."

He said a Governing Council delegation went to Fallujah Friday "to assess the situation and to help the various parties bridge their gaps".

He added that mediators will meet with the US military Saturday but refused to provide further details.

In a televised address, the US administrator for Iraq Paul Bremer said that armed bands in the city must submit to national authority. "Fallujah cannot be peaceful while such men remain at liberty," he said.

Samarrai said during his sermon that the apparent deadlock meant that US forces were getting ready for a new attack. "Occupation forces claim that negotiations have reached an impasse. This means that they are preparing a new offensive on Fallujah.

"I warn you against a new massacre of the population in Fallujah or against any other Iraqi city," he added, noting that Iraqis "can no longer tolerate more bloodshed."

"Iraqi Muslims, Sunnis or Shiites, will not remain passive and silent in the face of a new massacre. Sunnis and Shiites are united in Fallujah and in Najaf," he added, referring to the Shiite holy city where wanted firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr is holed up.

He blamed the occupation forces for seeking an escalation.

During the sermon, several people from Fallujah began shouting: "We want acts not words."

Copyright © 2004 Agence France Presse.

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