Staff were sent to Cyprus and Jordan last week ready to operate inside Iraq and the northern governorates, said Jose Luis Diaz, a spokesman for the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

The UN has appealed for about 1.6 million dollars to fund the operation.

"That is just to ensure that the response to the crisis adheres to the principles of accountability, non-discrimination ... and the empowerment of the Iraqi people," Diaz told journalists.

The move was backed by the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Iraq, Andreas Mavrommatis.

"One might think that it is not so appropriate, when people including civilians are being killed, to speak about future action in the field of human rights in Iraq," Mavrommatis told the annual meeting of the UN Human Rights Commission.

"It is my view though that I would have been failing in my duty, if I were not to refer, in an almost optimistic manner, to the imperative necessity for continued action to promote human rights and fundamental freedoms in Iraq," he said.

The Cypriot UN expert also sharply criticised coalition bombardments of Iraqi civilians.

"What we expect now is for the war to be over the soonest and that events such as the carnage in the market place in Baghdad would not occur again," Mavrommatis said.

"Respect to the right to life, to my mind, enjoins combatants to abort the process when the targeting of assets entails foreseeable risks to civilians," he added.

A bustling Baghdad market was demolished during US-led air strikes on Baghdad last Friday, killing and maiming scores of civilians.

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