French insurgents killed in Iraq

A dozen French nationals have travelled to Iraq, officials say

Three Frenchmen have died fighting with insurgents against US-led troops in Iraq, reports say.

The men, all of Arab origin, were killed in the country over recent months as the insurgency has flared.

Two of the men were aged 19 and the third was 24 years old, a French official said.

Authorities estimate that around a dozen Frenchmen of North African or Arab background have travelled to Iraq to join the insurgency.

The men were identified as

• 24-year-old Tarek W, from Paris, killed on 17 September

• 19-year-old Redouane el-Hakim, killed on 17 July

• Abdel Halim Badjoudj, 19, killed on 20 October.

French officials were checking the identity of a fourth man who was killed in recent weeks to see if he, too, held French citizenship.

Officials say the men probably travelled to Iraq via Syria but say that there is no proof of an organised recruitment network.

However, French newspaper Le Figaro says the men were helped to cross into Iraq by contacts in Syria.