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.

The troops returned fire, killing Hamza, he said.

Kimmitt, the coalition deputy operations chief, said several people were taken into custody. He said troops found bomb-making materials and pictures of al-Zarqawi in the house where Hamza was killed.

Al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian of Palestinian origin, is believed a key figure behind recent suicide bombings in Iraq and is thought to have ties to al-Qaida.