Al-Qaida suspect's key aide killed in Iraq

American troops killed a key lieutenant of suspected al-Qaida linked militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi during a shoot-out west of Baghdad, the US military said today.

Abu Mohammed Hamza, believed to have been a bomb maker for al-Zarqawi, was killed on Thursday in Habbaniyah after US troops came under fire while distributing leaflets, Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt said.