Three Marines and 40 militiamen die in gunbattles

THREE American soldiers and over 40 fighters loyal to a radical cleric were killed in another day of widespread bloodshed in Iraq yesterday.

The US seized the governor’s office from fighters loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr and killed an estimated 40 insurgents in battles east of the holy city, a US official said.

In Baghdad, a suicide attacker detonated a car bomb outside the so-called Green Zone that houses the US headquarters, killing five Iraqi civilians and an American soldier.

The soldiers took control of the building in Najaf without a fight, but heavy gunfire was heard after they moved in and smoke rose over the city. Motorists fled the area through deserted streets, honking their horns. Fighters loyal to cleric Muqtada al-Sadr had controlled the building since they launched their rebellion April 4.

Fighting east of Najaf killed an estimated 40 militiamen around Kufa, said Capt. Roger Maynulet, commander of a tank company with the Army’s 2nd Armoured Cavalry Regiment. US officers said American forces were sent east of the city to draw militia fighters away from the governor’s office.

Chief US administrator Paul Bremer announced the appointment of a new governor for Najaf province as part of the campaign to crack down on al-Sadr’s militiamen. In Karbala, American troops backed by tanks attacked al-Sadr’s militiamen, the Arabic language television station Al-Jazeera reported.

The Baghdad car bomb injured 25 people, including two American soldiers. The bomb, hidden inside an orange-and-white taxi, exploded outside a three-foot-high concrete wall protecting a US checkpoint.

The American soldier who died in the car bombing was the 21st US serviceman killed in Iraq in May. The injured included two US soldiers and three Iraqi policemen. The suicide bomber also died in the attack, the military said.

A statement on a Web site known for militant Islamic messages and signed by a group linked to al-Qaida claimed responsibility. The message was signed by the “military wing” of the “Monotheism and Jihad Group,” which is believed led by Abu-Musab al-Zarqawi.

Al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian, is wanted by the United States for allegedly organising terrorists to fight US troops in Iraq on behalf of al-Qaida.

US officials have offered a $10 million reward for al-Zarqawi’s capture.

Hours after the car bomb, a roadside bomb exploded on Saadoun Street, a busy commercial avenue on the east side of the Tigris River near the Palestine and Sheraton hotels. Two Iraqis were injured.

Also yesterday, two US soldiers died and two were wounded when a bomb exploded in Baghdad.

In Baghdad’s Sadr city, an overwhelmingly Shi’ite Muslim enclave and al-Sadr stronghold, militiamen ambushed four US patrols. Ten attackers were killed in retaliatory gunfire, a US officer said, speaking on condition of anonymity. There were no reports of US casualties.

Also yesterday, gunmen assassinated the head of the local Agriculture Department in the northern city of Kirkuk in a drive-by shooting that also killed his driver and wounded his wife, police said.