US troops kill 10 Iraqis in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (AFP) - US troops killed 10 militiamen as they planted roadside bombs in eastern Baghdad on Wednesday, just outside the Shia stronghold of Sadr City, the American military claimed.

"Coalition forces killed 10 special group extremists ... in Baghdad after positively identifying (that) they were conducting militant activities, primarily Improvised Explosive Device emplacement," a statement said.

Meanwhile, in Sadr City itself, Iraqi troops discovered 88 roadside bombs, 201 rocket propelled grenades, 34 artillery rounds, 18 tank rounds, 144 mortar rounds and 107 anti-tank mines.

At least two people were killed in clashes between Iraqi police and unidentified gunmen near Karbala, police said.

Meanwhile, Iraqi anti-American Imam Moqtada al-Sadr has called for a protest campaign to force Baghdad to abandon a proposed deal that will extend the US troop presence in Iraq beyond 2008.

Sadr said the proposed Status of Forces Agreement aimed at giving a legal basis to US troops after the December 31 expiry of a UN mandate defining their current status, was "against Iraqi national interests".

"After every Friday prayers, everyone must protest and demonstrate until the agreement is cancelled," he said in a statement sent to AFP on Wednesday.

He said his powerful movement planned to send delegations to neighbouring countries and to the West and to international bodies such as the United Nations, the Arab League and the European Ubnion to explain its position.