Iraq suicide attacks 'fell in November'

THE US military yesterday reported that suicide bombings fell in November to their lowest level in seven months after joint US-Iraqi operations west of the capital.

Major General Rick Lynch said suicide bombings fell to 23 in November, which he attributed to successful US-Iraqi military operations against insurgent strongholds in the Euphrates River valley.

Also yesterday, Iraq's interior minister fired his top official for human rights in connection with a torture investigation.

Interior Minister Bayn Jabr dismissed Nouri al-Nouri on the order of Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

Mr Al-Jaafari ordered an investigation into the alleged mistreatment of up to 173 detainees after US forces entered an Interior Ministry lock-up on November 13 and found some of those being held showed signs of torture.

Elsewhere, authorities identified a woman who carried out a suicide attack against a US patrol in Iraq as a 38-year-old Belgian who had two marriages to radical Muslim men.

Muriel Degauque entered Iraq from Syria last month and detonated explosives strapped to her body in a failed attack.

Her mother, Liliane Degauque, told Belgian TV networks that her daughter was "so nice" - but began to change when she married an Algerian man and turned to Islamic fundamentalism. Her second husband, a Moroccan, was believed to have died in Iraq

Meanwhile, the White House said yesterday it was "very concerned" about reports that the US military is paying Iraqi newspapers and journalists to plant favourable stories about the war and the rebuilding effort.