Foreign envoys in Iraq have no diplomatic immunity: US

In addition, spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington is advising foreign countries to hold off on sending envoys to Baghdad until a new Iraqi government is in place as "at this point there is really no purpose" for them to be there.

However, the exact status of foreign diplomatic missions -- which are considered part of the sovereign territory of the country that owns or leases the property -- in Iraq was not immediately clear.

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Responding to reporters' questions about a raid on the Palestinian mission in Baghdad and the arrest of three Palestinian diplomats by US forces, Boucher first said that neither the envoys nor the property held any diplomatic status.

"There are diplomats who were previously accredited to the Saddam regime who have been residing in former mission residences who are still there," he said.

"We do not regard those as diplomatic missions, they are accredited to a regime that is no longer existent and, therefore, their accreditation has lapsed," Boucher said.

"They and their premises don't have diplomatic status," he added firmly.

But after repeated questions about the legality of that position under international law and diplomatic protocol, Boucher then allowed that the missions themselves might still retain some protection.

"Certainly, the accreditation of the people has lapsed," he said. "Whether the property has some residual status, I will see."