The appeal urged British forces in Iraq to respect international law and Blair to ensure that his US ally did likewise.

The document, whose signatories included Amnesty centres in Israel and the United States, reiterated the organisation's demand for an immediate and independent investigation into allegations of unlawful killings.

"I would like to see some information coming from Downing Street (Blair's office) about what investigations are taking place into the bombardments of civilians in both the marketplace in an Iraqi suburb and the attack on a television station," said Amnesty spokesman Neil Durkin:

"Also, we hear a lot about how the Iraqis are treating POWs. But there is not much information on how Iraqi POWs are being kept."

"We ask for an immediate assurance that UK forces will abide by international law," Amnesty's Secretary General Irene Khan said in an earlier statement:

"Mr Blair must do everything in his power to get a similar assurance from his coalition partners. The rights and needs of the Iraqi people must be put first in this conflict and its aftermath."

Khan added, "The UK government and its coalition partners will be judged by the extent to which they do this.

"Together we represent over 1.6 million Amnesty International members who are watching the conflict in Iraq and are gravely concerned that human rights are not being respected."

Two market places in the Iraqi capital were hit in the last week, claiming dozens of lives and leaving many injured, including children.

The compound in Baghdad housing Iraqi state television, youth television, Kurdish radio and television channels as well as radio studios was bombed on Wednesday.

"You simply cannot target civilian resources and buildings," Durkin said: "It's a breach of the Geneva Convention. It has to be justified. Was (the building) being used for military purposes?"

On Friday a Vienna-based international press watchdog, the Press Institute (IPI), condemned the bombing of the television station as an unwarranted violation of the Geneva Convention, as the station was not a military target.

In an open letter to US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, it said the bombing also violated the Iraqi people's right to access to information.

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