Iraq governor found dead with abductors

An Iraqi provincial governor abducted this month died with his captors during a battle with US forces, it emerged today.

The body of Raja Nawaf, governor of Anbar province - a hotbed of the insurgency in eastern Iraq - was found on Sunday near the town of Rawa.

An Iraqi government spokesman said his body was tied to a gas canister in a house. The bodies of two Syrians, a Jordanian and an Algerian were beside him.

The spokesman said it was not known how he died but it was likely concrete fell on him after the battle triggered explosives in the house.

Meanwhile, four Italians died when their army helicopter crashed south-east of the city of Nassiriya. An inquiry is also under way into how an Iraq air force plane crashed yesterday north-east of Baghdad, killing four US air force personnel and one Iraqi.