Iraqis say US forces "besiege" town, military deny

Iraqis say US forces "besiege" town, military deny
By Ghazwan al-Jibouri

DHULUIYA, Iraq, May 25 (Reuters) - Residents of an Iraqi town north of Baghdad on Thursday accused U.S. forces of blocking traffic for the past five days and complained they were running out of food and could not go to work.

The U.S. military rejected charges that its forces were "besieging" Dhuluiya, a town of 40,000, saying an insurgent attack on an army checkpoint on the outskirts that killed five Iraqi soldiers had caused a "traffic disruption" in the area.

...mayor Rashad Daham told Reuters that living conditions in the mainly Sunni Arab town were worsening and he and the police chief spoke of a town under "siege". The Iraqi Red Crescent society sent food aid.

"The living situation is deteriorating because of the lack of food stuffs, employees and university students cannot go to work, even the ambulances are hindered by U.S. forces," Daham said. "We ask them to lift the siege of the town because it has nothing to do with these acts," he said of Sunday's violence.

Dhuluiya police chief Mohammed Khalif Hussein said: "The town has been besieged by U.S. forces from all sides for five days now."

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