Fallujans are staging a sit-in to demand compensation for property destroyed during last April's US military offensive.

Carrying banners reading: "Rebuild our houses from our oil revenues", demonstrators say they will not end their sit-in until their demands are met.

They acknowledged that some aid has reached the town, but they told Aljazeera's correspondent it is "nothing in comparison to the cost of the damage already inflicted by US warplanes".

They have called on international humanitarian organisations to provide immediate solutions to end their prolonged suffering.

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"Are they not selling oil? Why they do not spend its revenues on our people?"

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Al-Zarqawi's name has figured prominently in the latest violence. However, while statements of responsibility attributed to him or his alleged movements continue to appear on so-called Islamist websites, there are some who doubt the Jordanian's ability to plan and carry out so many devastating attacks.

Some have even questioned whether al-Zarqawi survived a US air assault on his camp in Kurdish-held Iraq in March 2003.

For his part, interim Iraqi Justice Minister Malik Duhan al-Hasan, who escaped an assassination attempt on Saturday, said he did not believe al-Zarqawi was behind the attack.

The convoy carrying al-Hasan was destroyed and five of his bodyguards killed.

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Dr Muhammad al-Hamadani, a Fallujan resident told Aljazeera.net he had no knowledge about any non-Iraqi fighters in the town.

"As a Falluja citizen, and head of the Falluja Scientific Forum, I can tell you that I have never seen or heard anything about non-Iraqi fighters in Falluja.

"We hear about al-Zarqawi in the media, but have never seen or felt his presence or any of his followers in Falluja" he said.