Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. forces in Iraq tightened their cordon around the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah as the Red Cross and Iraqi government dispatched aid packages for the city.

More than 1.5 tons of sutures, antibiotics and food packets arrived from the Red Cross, Rana Sidani, spokeswoman for the International Committee for the Red Cross, said in a telephone interview from Geneva.

In Baghdad, Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said his government would send $2 million in humanitarian aid immediately to Fallujah, west of Baghdad.

U.S. air strikes on Fallujah have been targeting suspected safe-houses of a militant group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian, whose group has taken responsibility for numerous bombings and killings of hostages in Iraq. During a siege by U.S. Marines earlier this year, Iraqis drove from Baghdad with supplies for Fallujah residents in an expression of solidarity.

On the city's perimeter, Iraqi special forces soldiers are listening for foreign accents as they question people leaving and entering the city.

``They're looking for accents that would indicate someone is not from Iraq, is from other countries in the region,'' said Major Francis Piccoli, a spokesman for the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, in a telephone interview from his post outside Fallujah. ``They're able to discern dialects that the average American might not.''

Britain is considering a U.S. request to shift some of its forces in Iraq to free up U.S. Marines for a possible attack on rebels in Fallujah, Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said in London.

Disarmament Effort

Allawi said a program that gives insurgents money for handing in their weapons -- started in Baghdad's Sadr City neighborhood last week -- is being extended.

``We will open this disarmament initiative to all the cities in the country,'' Allawi said in a televised speech to Iraq's interim parliament in Baghdad yesterday. He said the expanded program would start in the southern city of Basra.

The weapons handover, which began Oct. 11, was aimed at ending a stand-off in Sadr City, also known as al-Thawra, between militia loyal to Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and U.S. and Iraqi forces. Iraq's interim government is struggling to quell violence as the country prepares for elections set for January.

The deadline for the Sadr City handover is Thursday, according to Allawi. ``This is the last extension. The authorities will start a wide-scale search at the end and they'll confiscate any weapons they find and will punish their owners in accordance with the law,'' he said.

``These steps are part of efforts to prepare for the elections,'' Allawi said. ``The government is determined to get rid of weapons in the cities and the neighborhoods.''

President George W. Bush told a campaign audience in New Jersey that Iraqis are making progress in preparation for a vote set for January. Iraqi officials have set up an electoral commission and will begin voter registration next month, Bush said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Demian McLean in Washington at dmclean8@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 18, 2004 17:44 EDT