The US forces in Iraq Thursday made an apology for a clash with Shiite Muslims in northeastern Baghdad the day before, which left one Iraqi boy dead and four others wounded.

However, the religious group in the district rejected the apology and demanded an official one.

In an English statement signed on Wednesday and distributed to locals on Thursday, Lieutenant Colonel Christopher Hoffman said "We deeply regret what has happened today. What occurred was a mistake and was not directed against the people of Sadr city."

Around 3,000 demonstrators Wednesday gathered in al-Sadr city, a Shiite dominant district in northeastern Baghdad and known as Saddam City before the war, in protest against a US helicopter's attempt to tear down a religious banner.

The patrolling US troops fired to disperse the crowd, and an Iraqi boy was reportedly killed and four others injured.

"I am personally investigating this incident and will punish those responsible," promised Hoffman in the statement.

As a compensation, "We offer to treat the four wounded citizens at Coalition medical facilities," he said.

But Qais al-Khaz'ali, known as deputy secretary of Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, declared that they would not accept such an apology.

"We want a public apology and legal compensation for the victims," he said, adding that it should be publicized in both Arabic and English.

Al-Sadr, whose center is located in the southern holy city of Najaf, has a good number of followers in al-Sadr city, a crowded poor district in the capital.

His group also demanded that the US forces halt all helicopter flights over the neighborhood and provide compensation to victims of the shooting.

Al-Khaz'ali, representative of the group in the neighborhood, said they gave US troops a one-day ultimatum to meet the demands, "otherwise we are not responsible for whatever reactions the US soldiers might face if they enter the city."

In a rare gesture of compliance, Hoffman announced in the statement that the number of helicopters flying over the district and that of the routine patrols would be reduced.

Shiite Muslims, the largest religious group in Iraq which makes up of 60 percent of the population, used to be calmer after the US-led coalition ousted former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein, who is from the minority group of Sunni Muslim.

(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2003)