New arrivals from Fallujah at Baghdad camp

An estimated 100 families or some 1,000 people are now in an Iraqi Red Crescent camp in the western al-Haddrah district of the capital, Baghdad, set up for those who fled the fighting in Fallujah. A rudimentary washroom has been built from concrete blocks and a storehouse tent of food is watched over by three aid workers. Two more "camps" have also been set up in Baghdad for families with nowhere to stay - one in a former building for refugees in al-Ameriyah, another nearby. An estimated 10,000 people may be in the three camps, according to Islamic Relief, a British NGO. People in the camps believe that up to 100,000 of their neighbours have fled the fighting, some staying with relatives in nearby villages, others with families in Baghdad. "I will be here until the situation in Fallujah is decided by Mr George Bush," Abu Mohammed, who declined to give his last name, told IRIN. A new security force made up of former Iraqi army members may patrol Fallujah soon following negotiations last Wednesday. People in the camp say fighting will only stop if US troops pull out of the city, since the fighters will never lay down their weapons. At the camp, there is shouting from the nearby minaret to tell those in the tents about a child allegedly killed by the US Marines fighting insurgents in Fallujah. Two minutes later, an Apache attack helicopter circles low overhead, scaring children who are standing with their mothers as they wait for an aid worker to finish putting up a tent where they will sleep. "They have to stop attacking our women and children," Abu Mohammed said, standing at the entrance to his tent and raising his fist in the air, helplessly. "Is it logical that people who stand against occupation forces should be treated this way?" The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) maintains that troops are targeting anti-Coalition insurgents only and are trying to minimise civilian casualties. An Italian Red Cross bus pulls up and is immediately surrounded by children ready to unload its cargo of purified water. The Red Cross brings 3,500 litres of water per day, according to Roberto Baldessarelli, manager of the project. The Italian Red Cross is one of the few aid agencies still working in Iraq, following a spate of kidnappings of foreigners that made most foreign workers pull out of the country. His group also has to worry about US troops mistaking aid workers for fighters, especially in Fallujah and surrounding areas. "We hope the Americans won't shoot us," Baldessarelli told IRIN. "We at the Red Cross stay out of political matters. But there are Geneva Conventions that we hope are followed." Baldessarelli admitted some of the people in the camp may be fighters but pointed out that all of the people he had seen were babies, women and old men. "How do we know if they could be fighters?" Baldessarelli asked. "Do they have the word 'terrorist' written on their foreheads?"