Guards killed in bombing of Shi'ite cleric's house

A BOMB exploded outside the house of one of Iraq's most important Shi'ite clerics yesterday, killing three guards and injuring 10 others.

Tension also escalated in the Kirkuk area, where three Turkomen were in killed in multi-ethnic violence.

The violence comes as the US-led coalition quietly recruits former Iraqi spies to work with American intelligence officials in the country, according to Iraqis.

Also yesterday, the top US official in Iraq said the United States needs better intelligence and more co-operation from the Iraqi people to stabilise the situation. Paul Bremer made his comments days after terrorists bombed UN headquarters in Baghdad.

It's hard to tell if more terrorists are in Iraq now than before the war, but a "large number" of foreign terrorists perhaps several hundred have come into Iraq and some who had been in Iraq before the war are returning, Mr Bremer said.

Yesterday's deadly gas cylinder bomb was placed along the outside wall of the home of Mohammed Saeed al-Hakim in Najaf, one of Shi'ite Islam's holiest cities. It exploded after noon prayers.

The cleric suffered scratches on his neck, said Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, a member of Iraq's US-picked Governing Council and leader of what was the armed wing of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, headquartered in Iran before the war.

Al-Hakim is one of the most influential families in the Shi'ite community.

Meanwhile, Iraqis with ties to Saddam Hussein's once-feared Mukhabarat intelligence agency said former Iraqi agents would work with Americans inside Saddam's former presidential palace where the American-led coalition has its headquarters.

"It was obvious they would have to turn to the Mukhabarat, they knew everything in this country," said one Iraqi, who refused to be named.

Coalition spokesman Charles Heatly, responding to questions about recruitment of former Saddam intelligence officers, said US military intelligence and civilian authorities were "not leaving any stone unturned to uncover the people who are conducting attacks against the Iraqi people and the coalition forces. And they will continue".

In the north, the cities of Kirkuk and Tuz Kharmato were quieter yesterday, as Iraqi police and US troops maintained a heavy presence after two days of deadly violence between Iraqi Turkomen and Kurds.

Meanwhile, a US soldier from the 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment in Baghdad was killed in a friendly fire incident on Saturday, while a second soldier from the same regiment drowned in the Euphrates River.