Baghdad blast kills US soldier

The Spanish embassy is under constant guard

An American soldier has been killed in Iraq by a homemade explosive device - the latest loss for US forces.

The US Army said the soldier was killed and two others injured when their vehicle ran over the bomb in Baghdad.

Reports are coming in of four large explosions in the centre of Baghdad - smoke is said to be rising from close to the coalition compound.

Amid continuing violence, Spain, a key US ally in the war, is recalling most of its Baghdad diplomatic staff.

The Spanish Government insists the move is temporary but two other coalition members - Netherlands and Bulgaria - have already reduced their presence.

The Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Maria Aznar, said the recall was designed to assess the situation in Iraq.

"There is no evacuation. It's a call for an exchange of opinions and consultations," Mr Aznar told a news conference in Madrid.

The Spanish embassy is to remain open but its staff will be reduced to just four or five.

Aid boost

Spain's decision comes just a day after President George W Bush vowed that the US would not run from what he called its "vital mission in Iraq" - his first public reaction to a helicopter attack near Falluja on Sunday that killed 16 American soldiers.

Under increasing political pressure as US losses mount, the Bush administration received a boost on Monday when the US Senate gave final approval to the $87bn package for Iraq and Afghanistan.

US troops on Tuesday continued their search and clear-up of the helicopter wreckage.

Iraq has suffered a surge in violence over the past week, with many attacks in Baghdad, as well as areas of west and north of the capital where opposition to the US-led coalition runs high.

In other incidents:

• A homemade bomb in the town of Tikrit killed a US soldier on Monday, the US military says

• A senior Iraqi judge is shot dead in Najaf - gunmen also kill a judge in Mosul

• The UK Ministry of Defence announces that a Royal Marine was died in hostile fire on 31 October

• An explosion in the holy city of Karbala, south of Baghdad, on Monday night kills two Iraqis.

Shocked Karbala residents gathered on Tuesday near the scene of the blast which reduced a hotel's reception area to rubble, Reuters reported.

"We are scared to walk the streets and we are not safe in our homes. If security does not improve, there will be more explosions and deaths in Karbala," Idris Abed, a former army officer, told the news agency.