Iraq coalition offers $1m bounty

Douri is the highest-ranking regime official still at large

The US-led coalition has put a $1m bounty on the heads of a dozen of the "most wanted" Iraqis still at large.

Officials said 42 of the 55 on the list had been captured or killed.

Iraqi security and coalition forces hoped the new rewards would "bring a final closure to this search," the officials added.

In the latest violence, a roadside bomb killed a US soldier and two children near the centre of Baghdad on Sunday, the US military said.

The improvised device exploded as a convoy of the US 2nd Armoured Cavalry Regiment was passing through the crowded Karrada district.

It also injured five more US soldiers, their Iraqi interpreter and eight Iraqi civil defence personnel.

Meanwhile, five more Iraqis have died in hospital in the Shia holy city of Karbala, taking the death toll in Saturday's attacks there to 18.

A number of almost simultaneous attacks with car bombs were staged in Karbala, targeting coalition military installations and a municipal building.

US allies stand firm

The initial death toll of 13 included four Bulgarian and two Thai soldiers serving with coalition forces.

Now we've captured Saddam Hussein, we want to capitalise on this to clear up the last remnants of the former regime Charles Heatly US spokesman Iraq's most wanted

But the BBC's Chris Hogg in Baghdad says attacks against coalition forces have been falling. There are now around 15 daily throughout Iraq, down from a peak of around 40 a day in November.

A $10m reward has been offered for the capture of Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, the man the US suspects of masterminding many attacks on coalition forces.

In the northern Iraqi city of Irbil a leading Kurdish security official was wounded and three of his bodyguards were killed in an ambush by gunmen outside his home early on Sunday.

Police said Jawamir Attiyah Kaki, deputy security chief of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which controls Irbil, was rushed to hospital after the attack.

The leaders of Bulgaria and Thailand have said they will keep their troops in Iraq, despite Saturday's losses.

The Bulgarian President, Georgi Parvanov, said the casualties must not reduce his country's support for international efforts against terrorism.

The Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, said Thailand would continue to work for humanitarian ends in Iraq, despite criticism of the deployment by Thai opposition politicians.

At least 14 Bulgarian and five US soldiers as well as two Polish civilian workers were among 24 coalition personnel injured, a coalition military officer said.

Polish commander General Andrzej Tyszkiewicz said the attacks were "well planned, coordinated, massive and simultaneous".

'Oppressors and other ringleaders'

The images of the wanted Iraqi fugitives appear on a deck of cards of prepared by US intelligence before the March invasion to assist in the capture of Saddam Hussein's top officials.

The wanted men include the chief of the Republican Guard, the director of the Iraqi intelligence service and the man in charge of Saddam Hussein's bodyguards.

"Now that we've captured Saddam Hussein, we want to capitalise on this to clear up the last remnants of the former regime," Charles Heatly, spokesman for US administrator in Iraq Paul Bremer, said.

"Therefore we are now focused on capturing the final dozen or so of their oppressors who remain from the deck of 55, as well as other ringleaders."

The administration is offering smaller rewards - which range from $2,500 to $250,00 - for help capturing others thought to be involved in attacks on coalition forces.

Some analysts say Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri is unlikely to be co-ordinating the insurgency, as he must spend most of his time avoiding discovery.