US warns Iran rebels to disarm

THE US military issued an ultimatum yesterday to an armed Iranian opposition group operating in Iraq, insisting that it lay down its arms or face attack.

Meanwhile, the US formally acknowledged its obligations under the Geneva Convention as an occupying power in Iraq.

Military officers at the US Army's V Corps in Baghdad said the Mujahedeen Khalq, a longtime Iranian opposition group that operated in Iraq with Saddam Hussein's blessing, had been surrounded by US forces northeast of the capital. The officers spoke on condition of anonymity.