Iraqis vow to keep to timetable for power handover

Iraq's foreign minister yesterday promised local leaders would meet a deadline for setting out a path towards self-rule as the US military in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit warned insurgents of more aggressive raids.

Another American soldier's death underscored why Washington wants to scale down its presence in Iraq but occupation officials say they are frustrated Iraqi politicians have not moved more quickly to draw up plans for taking over power.

The soldier was killed and a comrade was wounded when their vehicle ran over a bomb in Baghdad late on Saturday. A bomb also wounded a British soldier in the southern city of Basra.

Iraq's Governing Council plans intense discussions to meet the US-backed deadline of December 15 to spell out how and when it will create a new constitution and when it will hold elections, interim Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said.

"The ball is now in our court and we must deliver," Zebari said.

A coalition official told Reuters there was "fairly strong frustration" at the council's work. He said the coalition had made clear the constitution should be its top priority when the council was formed in July.

"Where are we four months on? We haven't moved yet. So there is frustration," the official said. With Saturday's fatality, attacks have now killed 150 US soldiers in Iraq since President George W. Bush declared major combat over on May 1. Washington blames the attacks on Saddam loyalists and foreign Muslim militants.

US troops in Tikrit, 175 km north of Baghdad, have launched a new operation in the hostile Sunni Muslim area to hunt down guerillas. The US army said "Operation Ivy Cyclone" would last several days.

"If necessary, we'll carry out more shows of force," said Major Josslyn Aberle, spokeswoman for the 4th Infantry Division in Tikrit, referring to operations on Friday night when US warplanes dropped 500-pound bombs on suspected guerilla hideouts around Tikrit.

It was the first time planes had carried out bombing raids in Iraq since the official end of major combat.

The bombing followed the shooting down of a US Black Hawk helicopter in Tikrit, which killed all six people on board. A week ago, a US Chinook helicopter was also shot down west of Baghdad, killing 16 soldiers and wounding around 20.

In Iraq, attacks have been centred on US forces in Baghdad and the surrounding "Sunni triangle" region.