Al Qaeda claims Iraq attacks

A group claiming to be part of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network claims it is responsible for attacks on US troops in Iraq.

A taped statement broadcast on Arab TV last night denied that followers of Saddam Hussein were behind the bombings and shootings that have left over 30 American soldiers dead since 1 May, saying instead that they were "a result of our brothers in jihad".

The previously unknown Armed Islamic Movement for Al Qaeda claimed to have members across Iraq. The tape broadcast on the Dubaibased was made by the movement's Falluja branch, and featured a warning - accompanied by a photograph of an unidentified bearded man wearing a turban - that a new attack within days would "break the back of America completely".

US officials said that they had no knowledge of the group.

Earlier, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld predicted that attacks on US forces could grow "more vicious" this summerand admitted "We're still at war." He warned it might be necessary to increase the number of American troops in Iraq beyond the 147,000 already there.

One US soldier was killed and six wounded when a convoy came under attack with rocketpropelled grenades in central Baghdad today, a military spokesman said.

The convoy came under attack in the Mansour area at around 6am (0200 GMT). At least one US soldier was reported badly wounded in a separate attack near Baghdad airport.