Acts of killing in Iraq

In a statement, the American army in Iraq said that one of its soldiers was killed while he was taking part in a fighting operation led by the army in al-Anbar governorate in west Iraq.

The statement explained that the soldier was killed on Wednesday "as a result of an enemy act" giving no further details.

This came at a time when the Interim Iraqi government announced car curfew on Friday in Baghdad in attempt to alleviate the pace of violence which started to be escalated in the country and having a sectarian dimension.

Some 33 Iraqis were killed on Thursday including several army and police members and other 37 injured in attacks in several areas of the country.

For his part, the leader of the Iraqi (Sunni) al-Tawafuk Front, Adnan al-Duleimi, called for self control and not to react in a way that raises acts of violence in the country. This was hours after he survived an assassination attempt that resulted in killing one of his guards and injuring other five.

In another field development, the American forces announced the detention of 61 persons said to be from al-Qaida organization in Iraq in Falluja area west of Baghdad.

The American forces explained that those persons were arrested last Monday during an attack against one of their training bases where they were manufacturing bombs. This was in the course of the regular operations carried out by the American forces in al-Anbar governorate under the pretext of sheltering large number of foreign fighters.