French 'rebel' dies in Iraq raid

The US has continued to target Falluja insurgents with air raids

A French citizen has been identified among insurgents killed by US forces in Iraq, a French newspaper reports.

The 19-year-old, named as Redouane, is said to have died in a US air raid on Falluja on 17 July, says Le Figaro.

He is the first French national known to have died fighting against the US-led coalition.

Tunisian-born Redouane, who belonged to an Islamic group in France, is thought to have travelled to Iraq from his home in Paris via Syria earlier this year.

His brother Boubakeur, 21, who travelled with him, was arrested by Syrian officials and remains in custody.

Le Figaro says the radical Islamic group frequented by the brothers was investigated earlier this year in the western Paris suburb of Levallois-Perret.

The paper says its sources know of two other French nationals in Falluja and believe around 10 others have travelled to Iraq. Most are thought to be men of Tunisian origin who had been living in Paris.

The city of Falluja, 50 km (31 miles) west of Baghdad, is out of the control of US or Iraqi government forces.

US warplanes have continued to bomb targets in the city, as part of a campaign against the network of wanted militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - blamed for a wave of violence in the so-called Sunni triangle and elsewhere.

France, which opposed the US-led war against Saddam Hussein, has no troops in Iraq.