Helicopter crash kills 12 in Iraq

BAGHDAD - A US helicopter crashed in Iraq, killing all 12 people on board, and five Marines died in a spate of attacks in the west of the country on one of the worst weekends for the US military since the 2003 invasion.

A French hostage was freed by his captors and, in Baghdad, American soldiers raided the offices of an influential Sunni Arab organisation in response to what they described as "substantial terrorist-related activity".

They entered the building by sliding down ropes from helicopters, blew doors off their hinges, ransacked the office and arrested six people, witnesses and the organisation said.

The helicopter crash happened in a sparsely populated area of northern Iraq shortly before midnight, the military said on Sunday. The dead were four crew and eight passengers.

It was the worst incident of its kind in Iraq since January last year, when a US transport helicopter ploughed into the desert in western Iraq, close to the Jordanian border, killing 30 Marines and one sailor.

The Americans said they were investigating the cause of the crash and did not know if the UH-60 Blackhawk combat helicopter had been shot at before it came down.

Iraqi insurgents have frequently taken pot-shots at US helicopters with rifles, machineguns and rocket-propelled grenades. But most helicopter crashes in Iraq since the 2003 war have been the result of accidents.

The Blackhawk came down near the town of Tal Afar near the restive city of Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad.

The military also said five Marines were killed in and around the western city of Falluja, a hotbed of the largely Sunni Arab insurgency trying to drive the Americans out of Iraq.

Three were killed in three attacks on Sunday, all victims of small arms fire. The two others died on Saturday in two villages near Falluja when their vehicles were hit by improvised bombs.

BUNGLED ATTEMPT

The French hostage was freed after more than a month in captivity after what appeared to be a bungled attempt by his kidnappers to move him from one area to another.

Iraqi Interior Ministry and police sources said the kidnappers took fright when they encountered a joint US and Iraqi checkpoint on a road west of Baghdad.

They bundled engineer Bernard Planche out of their car and escaped, leaving the Americans to take care of him.

"I have been informed that Mr Bernard Planche has just been picked up this afternoon in Baghdad by officials from the French Embassy," French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said in a statement released in Paris.

"He should return to France soon by means which will be advised as soon as possible."

A little-known militant group called the Surveillance for the Sake of Iraq Brigade had claimed responsibility for Planche's abduction and issued a video purporting to show him being held captive. They had threatened to kill him.

The US raid in Baghdad was on the offices of the influential Muslim Clerics' Association, housed in the Umm al- Qora mosque complex in the west of the city.

Television footage showed spent shotgun shells and explosive charges lying on the ground of the offices. In one room, cupboards used to store the shoes of worshippers had what appeared to be Christian crosses scrawled on them.

US military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Barry Johnson said the raid had been deliberately timed to minimise the risk to civilians and that the soldiers had respected the fact they were in a place of worship. He rejected as "unbelievable" any suggestion they may have been responsible for the crosses.

TALABANI NOMINATED

Meanwhile the Kurdish Alliance, the country's second biggest political bloc, said it had nominated President Jalal Talabani for a second term in office, and political sources said he would almost certainly get it.

The country's main Shi'ite Islamist alliance, which dominated last month's election, has made it clear it is more interested in the prime ministership. No other party or coalition is likely to have enough influence within the new government to thwart Talabani.

The Iraqi electoral commission said it would hold a news conference on Monday at which it is expected to announce findings of its investigation into claims by some Sunni Arab and secular parties that the December 15 election was rigged to favour the majority Shi'ites.

The final results of the vote have not been announced and it could be weeks before a new government is formed.

- REUTERS