An Iraqi relief agency has removed 24 corpses from Falluja for burial outside the war-ravaged city, as the Red Cross criticises the humanitarian toll. Residents who fled the city gathered at a cemetery near the town of al-Saqlawiya, north of Falluja, in an attempt to identify the bodies. The Central Committee for Relief Aid transported the corpses by truck to the cemetery. Fighting continues in Falluja, despite claims by US marines that they have wiped out "insurgents". The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) meanwhile has sharply criticised the "utter contempt" for humanity shown by all sides in Iraq amid fierce fighting in Falluja. "We are deeply concerned by the devastating impact that the fighting in Iraq is having on the people of that country," said Pierre Kraehenbuehl, the ICRC's director of operations. "As hostilities continue in Falluja and elsewhere, every day seems to bring news of yet another act of utter contempt for the most basic tenet of humanity: the obligation to protect human life and dignity," he said. "For the parties to this conflict, complying with international humanitarian law is an obligation, not an option," Kraehenbuehl said in an unusually tough statement by the relief agency. The statement said there is an absolute prohibition on the killing of persons who are not taking active part in hostilities or have ceased to do so. It is also prohibited to torture them or to subject them to any form of inhumane, humiliating or degrading treatment. They also imposed protection for the wounded as well as for civilians, the Red Cross agency underlined. **Occupation Forces Desecrate Abu Hanifa Mosque*** An influential group of clerics last night protested against a raid on a Baghdad mosque by Iraqi and US troops, which killed four civilians. Hundreds of Iraqi troops stormed the Abu Hanifa mosque in the Sunni district of Aadhamiya, firing grenades and damaging the doors, the Muslim Clerics Association said. It said they opened fire when furious worshippers tried to beat back troops. Four civilians were killed and nine wounded. Hospital officials had earlier said two people were killed. More than 17 were detained. US-led forces have stormed at least two mosques in recent weeks and detained clerics critical of the Fallujah offensive. The Muslim Clerics Association, some of whose own officials have been arrested, condemned raids by US-led forces on places of worship. **PHOTO CAPTION*** A U.S. Marine forces an Iraqi detainee to lie down following his arrest in Falluja, November 18, 2004. (REUTERS)