Angry Iraqi Town Buries Dead, U.S. Says Sorry
Hundreds of Iraqis chanting ``America is the enemy of God'' and shooting in the air on Saturday buried eight of 10 guards apparently shot by U.S. troops who mistook them for anti-American rebels.

More than 36 hours after the deaths, the U.S. military apologized for what it called an ``unfortunate incident'' in the rebellious town of Falluja, west of Baghdad.

``We wish to express our deepest regrets to the families who have lost loved ones,'' military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel George Krivo said in Baghdad, promising a high-level investigation.

With Falluja seething, mourners crammed its main mosque where the corpses were kept and local police had to fire warning shots in the air to disperse demonstrators when the first coffin was carried to a cemetery.

Sunni Muslim clerics issued a ``Declaration by the people of Falluja'' condemning the deaths, announcing three days of mourning, and calling for a general strike on Sunday.

Witnesses said a joint patrol of local police and a U.S.-trained security force were chasing thieves shortly after midnight on Friday when U.S. soldiers opened fire on them.

The U.S. statement said its soldiers were responding to an initial attack from a truck when the guards were caught in confused fighting that lasted for three hours.

A Jordanian guard at a local field hospital was also killed in the shooting in Falluja, part of the so-called ``Sunni Triangle'' where support for deposed dictator Saddam Hussein remains strongest.

Jordanian newspapers said Secretary of State Colin Powell telephoned his Jordanian counterpart, Marwan al-Muasher, to ``express regret'' over the hospital guard's death. Powell will travel to Kuwait and Iraq after Saturday's talks in Geneva on Iraq's future.

In Falluja, two other Iraqi security personnel injured in Friday's shooting died of their wounds overnight. Eight died immediately.

Locals were also mourning the death of a three-year-old girl who witnesses said had been shot in the head by American soldiers during street fighting late on Friday.

The town has been a cauldron of hostility to U.S. forces, particularly since troops shot dead at least 13 Iraqis -- said by locals to have been unarmed -- during a late April march.

There were chaotic scenes on Saturday at Falluja's main mosque, where several hundred people carrying an Iraqi flag gathered to pray over the coffins and protest.…


http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-iraq-funerals.html