US raids target al-Qaeda in Iraq

The US military says it has captured 32 suspected militants, including 10 on a wanted list, in a wave of arrests across Iraq.

The leadership of the al-Qaeda in Iraq group has been degraded, the military said after the arrests in Baghdad, Mosul and the Tigris river valley.

One of the 14 arrested in Mosul is believed to have been involved in car bombings and kidnappings.

The US also captured two suspected Shia militiamen near Kut, south of Baghdad.

The US military accused the two of being members of Iranian-trained "special groups" - Shia fighters who are not observing a ceasefire called by the Shia cleric and militia leader Moqtada Sadr.

The arrest of two other suspected Shia militiamen was announced on Thursday.

Correspondents say US allegations of Iranian support for Shia fighters are expected to be on the agenda when Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki visits Tehran on Saturday.

'Flatly untrue'

Separately, Shia protesters demonstrated against a US-Iraq security deal currently under negotiation, to define the legal basis of a continued US troop presence after 31 December 2008.

Moqtada Sadr is strongly opposed to the Status of Forces Agreement.

The US ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, earlier dismissed media reports that the US was seeking to establish permanent bases in Iraq as "flatly untrue".

Also on Friday, a suicide bomber that police said they believed to be a woman, injured at least two policemen in the town of Ramadi, 100 km (60 miles) west of Baghdad.