Iraq bomber kills 13

A suicide car bomber killed at least 13 people in an attack on a police checkpoint in Baghdad today after a night of US air strikes that killed scores.

An Iraqi government spokesman said the bomb had detonated beside a line of police vehicles set up to seal off routes to nearby Haifa Street, a guerrilla stronghold where US troops have been fighting rebels.

A large crater was gouged in the road and several police cars were ablaze, sending thick smoke into the sky. The US military said as many as 50 were wounded.

The US military said an air strike last night near rebelheld Fallujah, part of a push to quell insurgency and lawlessness ahead of a national election next January, had killed around 60 foreign fighters loyal to the Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Washington, calling Al-Zarqawi its No1 foe in Iraq, says he is allied to al Qaeda and has put a $25million (?14million) price on his head.

Early today, US warplanes destroyed a compound in south central Fallujah which the US military said was also used by Zarqawi's militants.

Iraq's health ministry said at least 45 civilians had been killed in the air strikes. Television images showed bloodied bodies, including women and children, on hospital beds.

More than 200 Iraqis have died over the past few days alone in bombings and other violence.

US secretary of state Colin Powell said in an interview in today's Washington Times that American diplomats and commanders recognised the national election could not go ahead under current conditions.