Iraqi soldiers find 30 beheaded corpses

THIRTY bodies, most of them beheaded, were found by the Iraqi army yesterday to the north of Baghdad.

Officials said they were discovered in the village of Mulla Eed, near Baquba, a town with a mixed Sunni and Shiite Muslim population, which has been at the forefront of sectarian conflict.

Meanwhile, at least 16 people were killed yesterday in clashes at a mosque in Baghdad.

Abdul-Zahra al-Suaidi, an aide to the radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, said US forces and Iraqi army soldiers opened fire at the al-Moustafa Shiite mosque.

But an American military spokesman said Iraqi special forces alone had been involved in an operation to disrupt a terrorist cell responsible for conducting attacks and kidnappings.

• A letter supposedly written by Saddam Hussein has appeared on a pro-Baathist website urging Arab leaders to support Iraqi militants, in order to thwart an "American-Israeli conspiracy" to divide Iraq.