One killed, scores hurt by latest Iraq car bomb

The bomb exploded Tuesday evening 350km north of Baghdad in Kurdish-dominated territory, which has been spared much of the violence US-led forces have been battling to stamp out since they ousted Saddam Hussein on April 9.

A US soldier became the 68th to be killed in action in Iraq since the official end of major combat on May 1 when his vehicle was hit by an explosives attack northeast of Baghdad on Tuesday afternoon, a military spokeswoman said.

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The two incidents hammered home the cost of the US-led occupation hours after Iraq's American-appointed Governing Council took a step toward international legitimacy by securing a seat at an Arab League meeting in Cairo.

For months, US troops have faced guerrilla attacks in Iraq. But the car bombs targeting foreign involvement in Iraq and locals working with occupying powers have taken violence to a higher level, killing more than 120 people since August 7.

One Iraqi was killed and 47 were wounded in the attack in Arbil, a US military spokeswoman in Baghdad said. Six US Department of Defence personnel were also wounded, she said. She had no details whether they were civilians or soldiers.

The spokeswoman said the attack took place at a "safe house" in the city but had no more information. A spokesman for the US 101st Airborne Division which patrols Arbil said none of its soldiers had been killed or injured in the blast.

Vehicle bombers have hit the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad, United Nations offices and the capital's police headquarters. A top Shi'ite cleric was among more than 80 people killed by a car bomb in the city of Najaf last month.

US officials have mostly blamed diehard Saddam supporters for postwar violence but are also increasingly pointing the finger of suspicion at foreign Islamic militants. Some are talking of a possible alliance between the two groups.

With the occupation imposing a mounting cost in American lives and money, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has launched a diplomatic drive to bridge differences between the United States and its critics over the future of Iraq.