IRAQ: US soldiers arrested a suspected former Ba'ath Party official in northern Iraq yesterday as three American soldiers were killed in separate attacks.
A soldier from the 1st Armoured Division was shot and killed while on patrol in the al-Mansour district of western Baghdad last night, the US command said.
A female soldier from the 4th Infantry Division died on Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded about 300 yards from the main US base in Tikrit, Saddam's hometown.
Two other soldiers were wounded.
Another soldier from the 4th Infantry Division died following a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a US convoy near Samara, about 60 miles north of the Iraqi capital.
The latest casualties - names were withheld pending notification of relatives - bring to 90 the number of US soldiers to die by hostile fire in Iraq since Mr Bush declared an end to major combat operations on May 1st.
A total of 314 American service members have died since the war started on March 20st.
There was also violence yesterday in Falluja, a centre of anti-US sentiment, when a gunbattle erupted. Police said several people were wounded when US troops returned fire after coming under attack.
Iraqi policeman Mr Asaad Abdul-Karim said an Iraqi man was killed and a woman and a six-year-old girl wounded by US gunfire. They were apparently caught in the crossfire during the battle in which two Iraqi police were also wounded.
The US military in Baghdad said it had no immediate information on the incident.
"They shot a woman, who is in a critical condition, and also a young girl," Abdul-Karim said. "Two Iraqi police officers who were sealing off the area were also wounded."
After the battle, US troops began searching a building from where shots had come.
South of Falluja, a US convoy was also attacked yesterday with a roadside bomb and rocket-propelled grenades, locals said. Hours after the attack, one US military vehicle was still in flames at the scene. casualties.
In Tikrit, the military said a Ba'ath Party official was arrested overnight near Baqouba.
His name was not released, but the military said he was believed to have been helping Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, a Saddam confidant and one of the most senior members of the former regime still at large.
Al-Douri, a Revolutionary Command Council vice-chairman, is No 6 on the most-wanted list of 55 regime officials. His daughter was married to Saddam's son, Uday, who was killed in a US-led attack in July.
Meanwhile, troops of the 4th Infantry Division killed one Iraqi and wounded another after assailants fired rocket-propelled grenades and small arms at a US patrol near Balad.