US air raid on suspected militants in Iraq

US forces launched an air strike on suspected guerillas allied to al Qaeda in the rebellious city of Falluja yesterday, and local doctors said at least 12 people were killed.

The US Army said in a statement that Iraq's interim government had authorised "a strike against a known terrorist fighting position in southern Falluja".

"The point is we didn't just strike off on our own," visiting US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage told a news conference with Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari.

The US military said about 25 fighters loyal to Jordanian militant Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi were in the area just before the attack.

The suspected al Qaeda ally's organisation claimed responsibility for two suicide bombings on Saturday, including one that just missed killing Iraq's justice minister.

The air strike, at around 2 a.m. (2200 GMT on Saturday), "destroyed defensive fighting positions and trench lines near the remains of a house and a foreign fighter checkpoint", the US military said.

Doctor Ahmed Ghanem told Reuters at least 12 people were killed, including women and children.

Armitage said he had discussed Iraq's security woes with interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi. He is the most senior US official to visit since the handover of sovereignty on June 28.

A key issue in the handover was the role the new government would play in overseeing the 160,000 mostly US troops in Iraq and notably in authorising strikes such as that in Falluja.

The US Marine Corps pulled out of the city west of Baghdad after weeks of fierce fighting in April that killed hundreds of Iraqis. Critics of the withdrawal say the city has since become a haven for insurgents and foreign fighters.

Several times over the past two months the US military has launched air strikes on buildings in Falluja which it says are safe houses for militants loyal to Zarqawi, who is accused of masterminding a series of suicide attacks over the past year.

Washington calls Zarqawi its prime enemy in Iraq and has put a $25 million price on his head.

His Tawhid and Jihad group claimed responsibility for two suicide car bombings on Saturday - one an attack on the convoy carrying the justice minister that killed five bodyguards.

Zarqawi's group has also beheaded an American and a South Korean hostage and said last week it had killed one of two Bulgarian truck drivers it had kidnapped. Hopes are fading that the second Bulgarian is alive, diplomats say.

Bulgaria dispatched a team of experts to view a video tape of the truck driver's execution that was sent to Qatar-based Al Jazeera television, in the hope of positively identifying the dead man.

Bulgarian Deputy Foreign Minister Gergana Grancharova told Reuters the experts had now seen the tape and an official statement would be made when they returned home this week.

Guerillas in Iraq are also holding a Filipino and an Egyptian hostage, both truck drivers, but there are indications they may soon be freed.

The captors of the Egyptian hostage said they would free him after the Saudi transport firm he worked for pledged to stop doing business in Iraq.

The Philippines said it would complete the withdrawal of its military contingent from Iraq today, a move aimed at saving the life of hostage Angelo de la Cruz, a father of eight.

Both Armitage and Zebari expressed regret at the withdrawal. "This in my view and the view of the Iraqi government has set a bad precedent... Terrorists should not be rewarded," Zebari said.

Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka, visiting Polish troops who lead a multinational battalion in south-central Iraq, said Poland's military presence in Iraq would remain until 2005, although it would be substantially reduced.

In Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's home town 175 kilometres north of Baghdad, a car bomb killed a policeman and wounded another yesterday morning. Guerillas have repeatedly attacked Iraqi security forces as well as foreign troops.