'US allies' killed in Iraq ambush

Gunmen have killed four people and kidnapped four more at a fake checkpoint in Salahuddin province, north of Baghdad, Iraqi police say.

Reports say those killed were members of an Awakening Council, a US-allied Sunni militia movement fighting al-Qaeda in Iraq.

Sunni militias have been credited with helping to bring down the level of violence in Iraq in recent months.

But their members have frequently been targeted by al-Qaeda militants.

'Leader kidnapped'

Wednesday's attack took place in the town of Duluiyah, about 45 miles (70 km) north of Baghdad.

Those kidnapped included Sheikh Ali Dhaher, a tribal leader, Reuters news agency quotes Lt Col Muhammad Jasim of the Dhuluiyah police as saying.

Several leaders of Awakening Councils have been killed in the past year.

The leader of an Awakening Council in near Baquba in Diyala province, Thaer Ghadban al-Karkhi, was killed in a suicide bombing in March.

A senior member of the Awakening Council in Falluja, Sheikh Ibrahim Mutayri al-Mohammedi, was also killed in a suicide bombing in February.