Australian hostage freed as 33 die in suicide attacks

IRAQI and US forces, acting on a tip-off, raided a dangerous Sunni neighbourhood yesterday and freed an Australian hostage.

Elsewhere, 33 people died in suicide attacks, including 25 killed when a bomber dressed in Iraqi army uniform blew himself up in a mess hall.

Douglas Wood, a 64-year-old engineer who lives in Alamo, California, said he was "extremely happy and relieved to be free again", according to a message read by Australia's counter terrorism chief Nick Warner.

The raid took place as part of Operation Lightning - a broader counterinsurgency operation that began in Baghdad on May 29, Mr Warner said. He added there "was specific intelligence and tips that provided a hint at what might be found at that location".

He added that no ransom was paid despite a request for a "very large" amount of money.

Gen Naseer al-Abadi, Iraq's deputy chief of staff, said Mr Wood was found under a blanket and that the insurgents had tried to tell troops he was their sick father. The operation took place yesterday morning and resulted in the arrest of three insurgents and release of an Iraqi hostage.

Mr Wood was abducted in late April by a militant group calling itself the Shura Council of the Mujahedeen of Iraq. The Australian government refused to bend to the kidnappers' demands that its 1,400 troops be withdrawn from Iraq. It sent diplomats and military personnel to Baghdad to seek his release.

"I am delighted to inform the House that the Australian hostage in Iraq, Mr Douglas Wood, is safe," Prime Minister John Howard told Parliament.

In Khalis, about 45 miles north of Baghdad, the suicide bomber walked into the crowded mess hall wearing an army uniform and waited until soldiers had gathered for lunch before blowing himself up, Iraqi military said.

In a separate attack, eight Iraqi policemen were killed when a suicide bomber crashed into two police cars in the capital. Thirteen bystanders were also wounded as the cars burst into flames at the intersection in a predominantly Shi'ite neighbourhood, police said.

Meanwhile, a Shi'ite-dominated parliamentary committee drafting Iraq's new constitution yesterday offered a compromise to the country's Sunni Arab minority in an effort to break a deadlock over demands they have a bigger say in drawing up the charter. The offer suggested 13 Sunni Arabs join the committee in a parallel body.

That 68-member body would make decisions by consensus and pass them on to the 55 lawmakers for ratification. An additional 10 Sunni Arabs would also join, but only in an advisory capacity.

Leaders of the Sunni Arab community want 25 people to join their two legislators already on the committee.

Adnan al-Duleimi, head of the Sunni Endowments, a charitable organisation that runs mosques across Iraq, rejected the offer. Representatives from the committee and the Sunni Arab community are scheduled to meet today to discuss the proposal.