veiled4allah: link dump, on Fallujah

This post is just a bunch of interesting links on Fallujah that I found:

Fallujah 101:A history lesson about the town we are currently destroying

Civilian cost of battle for Falluja emerges

Relief convoy turned back from Fallujah: Red Cross

Iraq: Fears of serious violations of the rules of war in Falluja

Rights Lawyers See Possibility of a War Crime in Fallujah

A city lies in ruins, along with the lives of the wretched survivors

Fallujah turned into disaster area

Inside Fallujah: one family’s diary of terror

US disputes civilians trapped in Fallujah, says no aid is needed

but see: Falluja residents desperate for food, water, aid

Bodies litter streets in rubble of Falluja

Falluja a sea of rubble and death after offensive

Added: Also U.S. Military Probes Shooting of Unarmed, Wounded Iraqi in Falluja

Also: Falluja refugees tell harrowing stories

International aid groups worry about civilians trapped in Fallujah

Murder in Fallujah

Dogs Eating Bodies in the Streets of Fallujah

More: A wrecked nation, a desert, a ghost town. And this will be called victory

800 Civilians Feared Dead in Fallujah

U.N. official denounces Fallujah killings

And: Falluja's 'Democratic' Wasteland

Fallujah Residents Emerge, Find 'City of Mosques' in Ruins

More: Witnesses say US forces killed unarmed civilians

'We Live Like Dogs'

Iraqi Journalist Tells of U.S. Captivity

Ten days in Fallujah battlefield

Dead-Check in Falluja

Plus: Over 2 000 killed in Fallujah

Also: Neglect follows siege of Falluja

Falluja 'a horror' after U.S.-led offensive

US army blocks aid convoy for Falluja

And: UN fears for refugees who fled attack on Falluja

At least 200,000 fled Falluja

Plus: Sewage and rabid animals pose a significant health threat in Falluja

Marines hunt down Fallujah's strays to head off rabies threat

ICRC concerned about bodies, sewage in Falluja

And: City of Ghosts

Falluja: City Without a Future?

Update: Nearly five months later, how is Fallujah doing?

Government studies suggest that 70 percent of buildings were destroyed in the city during the last conflict between US troops and insurgents. This left thousands of families still encamped on the outskirts of the city, waiting for a government solution to their problem.

Two-thirds of the city's population is said to have fled when the fighting started between November 2004 and January 2005. Based on studies, each family will receive a sum of money, depending on the damage and size of their property.

"I cannot return to my home because it has been totally devastated and the government told me that I have to be patient and wait for my name to come up on the list for compensation. But it is going very slowly and my family need a roof over their heads," Kareem Aydan, a resident from Fallujah, camped on the outskirts of the city, told IRIN.

Muhammad Abdul al-A'ani, deputy minister for industry, told IRIN that of the total number of houses damaged in the city, only 90 families had received compensation of around US $1,500 each so far.

Update: Two more months have passed, and...

Reconstruction of Fallujah, the city which was the scene of fierce battles between US forces and insurgents between November 2004 and January 2005, has been slow according to local officials. Little progress has been made despite Washington allocating US $200 million for rehabilitation efforts and compensation for families.

Nearly 80 percent of the population fled Fallujah, which is 60km west of the Iraqi capital Baghdad and so far only half of them have returned, aid officials have said.

Local people complain that there are still no basic facilities such as sewage systems, adequate electricity and water supplies and there are disputes over how much compensation has been distributed so far. About 70 percent of buildings, many of them houses, were destroyed during the conflict.

See also The failed siege of Fallujah.