New US raids target Iraqi rebels

Five people were killed in pre-dawn attacks on Sadr City

The US military has launched fresh air strikes at targets in Baghdad's Sadr City suburb, hours after attacks which left at least five people dead.

The area is a stronghold for supporters of Shia Muslim cleric Moqtada Sadr, who recently agreed to observe a ceasefire.

Air raids were also reported in the insurgent stronghold of Falluja, where US forces are targeting fighters loyal to militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

There were no immediate reports of casualties in the latest attacks.

At least three Iraqi guardsmen were killed on Monday morning when a car bomb hit their patrol in the northern city of Mosul.

At least three people were wounded in the attack, which happened at about 0900 (0500 GMT), including a civilian.

Two US soldiers were killed in separate incidents near Balad north of Baghdad.

One died in a car accident and the second was killed when a patrol came under fire while returning from the scene of the crash, the US military said.

In other developments in Iraq:

• Jordanian King Abdullah II says in an interview with the French newspaper Le Figaro that indisputable elections are "impossible" in the current climate of chaos in Iraq.

• The US military charges two US soldiers based in Baghdad with the murder of an Iraqi civilian.

• Iranian diplomat Fereidoun Jahani, who was kidnapped in early August, is freed and arrives at the Iranian embassy in Baghdad.

• Arabic media reports say an Egyptian engineer and two Iraqis kidnapped earlier this week have been freed.

'Intensive' raids

Residents in Sadr City reported loud explosions on Monday night in the US raids.

US military spokesman Captain Brian O'Malley told AFP news agency the strikes were "precision fire" targeting "improvised explosive devices".

Sadr's supporters have frequently clashed with the US

But a representative of Moqtada Sadr described the raids as "the most intensive ever" and said they had caused power cuts in the area.

They followed pre-dawn raids which hospital sources said left five dead and more than 45 injured.

The US military has questioned the number of injuries but says it is opening an internal investigation into the raids.

US troops have frequently clashed with Mr Sadr's Mehdi Army militia.

A peace deal last month ended weeks of fighting in the city of Najaf but clashes have continued in Sadr City.

The BBC's Caroline Hawley in Baghdad says the US believes militants in Sadr City have planted landmines, and these could be the target of the US strikes.

The area is named after Mr Sadr's father, a senior cleric assassinated in 1999 reportedly on the orders of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

On Monday, an aide to Mr Sadr told Arabic TV station al-Jazeera that the cleric planned to announce a new peace plan soon to end the fighting between his supporters and US troops.

Sheikh Hassan al-Adhari, who heads Mr Sadr's office in Sadr City, said the plan "aims to achieve peace in all parts of Iraq and lays out a plan to hold general elections across the country in order to silence those who say it cannot be held because of the security situation".