Civilian contractor killed in Iraq

An American civilian contractor was killed in Iraq today when a bomb was detonated under the truck he was driving north of Tikrit.

He was working for a subsidiary of Halliburton, an oilfield services and construction company once headed by . US Vice President Dick Cheney.

Major Brian Luke, of the 4th Infantry Division, said the five vehicle convoy was travelling from Baghdad when it was attacked.

The contractor worked at the Baiji refinery and pipeline terminus about 30 miles north of Tikrit, the home town of deposed dictator Saddam Hussein.