Iraq roadside bomb kills three

Roadside attacks on US troops have become commonplace

Two US soldiers and an Iraqi have been killed by a roadside bomb near the city of Khalidiya, US officials say.

A similar attack on an American convoy in Baquba, north-east of Baghdad, reportedly wounded an Iraqi policeman earlier in the day.

Both cities are regarded as centres of resistance to the coalition forces.

American troops detained 55 people late on Wednesday after a US-run prison on the outskirts of Baghdad came under mortar and rocket attack.

Five rockets and 33 mortars were fired at the Abu Ghraib prison, the US military said.

One Iraqi was killed in the exchange and an American soldier was slightly wounded.

Abu Ghraib - renamed the Baghdad Correctional Facility by the Americans - was one of Iraq's most notorious prisons under Saddam Hussein.

It now holds former regime members and suspected Iraqi insurgents captured by the US.

Roadside blasts

A US official confirmed that the roadside blast near Khalidiya, 60km (38 miles) west of Baghdad, killed at least one Iraqi as well as the two American soldiers.

Elsewhere, a roadside bomb in the town of Baquba, 60km (40 miles) north-east of the capital, injured an Iraqi policeman, security officials said.

The explosion happened early on Thursday as a US military convoy was passing by. No US casualties were reported.

Coalition patrols are often accompanied by Iraqi security officials who have been trained by the Americans.

Seven people arrested in a dawn raid in Baquba on Wednesday are meanwhile being interrogated by the US on suspicion of al-Qaeda links.

Election doubts

The latest attacks came as a Shia member of the Iraqi Governing Council told the AFP news agency that the US-appointed body was on the brink of passing a law that would extend its remit beyond 30 June - the date set by the US for handing administrative control over to Iraqis.

Wael Abdul Latif, a council member and governor of Basra, Iraq's second city, said the council was considering extending its term to the end of the year, if elections could not be held any sooner.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected to make a formal announcement shortly on the feasibility of holding legislative elections before the end of June - a demand of many Shia religious leaders.