LONDON (AFP) - Iraqi politician Adnan Pachachi warned that Fallujah was "not the end of the story" and that the US-led offensive there could trigger even further violence.
"It seems probable that Fallujah is not the end of the story. They (insurgents) have already shown that they are able to perpetrate all kinds of discriminate violence all over the country," he told BBC television in an interview.
The Sunni Muslim elder statesman, one of the leaders of the post-war Iraqi Governing Council and a former Iraqi foreign minister from the pre-Saddam Hussein era, said the offensive to drive out and destroy rebels in Fallujah could backfire.
"I am afraid that if there's going to be an excessive use of force this will be counterproductive and will create a great deal of anger and resentment," he told the British broadcaster.
When pressed whether he thought the US soldiers used excessive violence, he said: "I hope there won't be (an excessive use of force), but of course, you know, the fight is... not balanced at all. On one side you have overwhelming force, on the other you have really, very, very little."
The greatest danger in the battle for Fallujah was that it appeared to target Sunni Muslims, since their participation was critical to any Iraqi political process, he said.
"Unfortunately some people are already feeling that the Sunni population are being singled out... which of course is not quite true....
"The worst thing that can happen is the feeling that somehow action is being taken against a particular section of the population. Because without Sunni full participation in the electoral process, I think the elections will fail," Pachachi said.
Sunni and Shiite figures have condemned the Fallujah assault, with Iraq's main Sunni party quitting the government and calling for a boycott of elections due to be held in January.
The US military said Wednesday they were in control of 70 percent of the city.
At this rate, it said it expected to achieve total control of the Sunni rebel enclave within 48 hours, even as insurgents regrouped in the south and fought from inside central mosques and other buildings.
Pachachi, an octogenarian, was originally named as Iraqi president on June 1 but turned down the post after being denounced as the candidate of the United States.
Sheikh Ghazi al-Yawar, a Sunni tribal leader, became president, a largely ceremonial role.
From Tom Newton Dunn of The Sun, at Camp Dogwood
AN ARMY pilot attached to The Black Watch battle group was critically injured last night after being shot while at the controls of his helicopter.
The Army Air Corps Lynx helicopter was raked with small arms fire as it flew on a routine patrol from the Black Watch base, Camp Dogwood, to Baghdad.
Insurgents hiding in palm groves ten miles north east of the base shot at the helicopter as it flew at high speed at a tactical altitude of less than 100ft with an RAF Puma helicopter.
The helicopter’s co-pilot managed to regain control of the stricken aircraft and land it back at the desert base, but the pilot suffered serious chest injuries.
The rebel attack was one of five on the 850-strong Black Watch battle group yesterday as insurgents stepped up their campaign to coincide with the US onslaught of Fallujah.
Another serviceman suffered shrapnel wounds during the unit’s most intense day of combat yet on the controversial 30-day mission.
Camp Dogwood was struck by four missile and mortar attacks yesterday.
The soldier was hit by shrapnel when the first barrage of four rockets exploded inside the camp. A second Lynx helicopter was badly damaged on the base’s main helicopter landing site.
The injured soldiers were taken to an American military hospital in Baghdad by US Black Hawk helicopters.
Doctors classified the wounded pilot as a “P1” casualty — the most serious category — but his condition had stabilised last night.
Five soldiers have died and 12 have been wounded, three seriously, in the 13 days since The Black Watch moved north from the southern British sector of Iraq. There was growing anger among the Scots troops last night as more comrades went down to rebel violence. Many of the soldiers spoke of their frustration at their hidden enemy.
B Company section commander Corporal John Rose, 34, from Glasgow, said: “It seems like wherever we go, they hit us.
“It’s really frustrating because we have to stand here and just take it at the moment. These scumbags are cowards because they won’t come out and fight us in the open.”
Officers believe that dozens of foreign fighters driven out of Fallujah have settled in a network of villages close to Camp Dogwood. The battle group has orders to bar any fighters fleeing the city and stop reinforcements or supplies getting through.