12 killed in Iraq violence, Iranian diplomat freed

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Twelve people were killed in fresh violence across Iraq as an Iranian diplomat kidnapped two months ago by the same Islamic extremist group holding two French reporters was released.
Meanwhile British Muslim leaders wrapped up a two-day mission in Iraq to try to save British hostage Kenneth Bigley with no word on the fate of the 62-year-old engineer whose two US colleagues were executed last week.
Five Iraqis were killed in a US air strike on the radical Shiite slum of Sadr City in eastern Baghdad, another five Iraqi civilians died in a roadside bomb attack north of the capital, and two national guardsmen were killed in a car bombing in northern Iraq.
A Sadr City hospital official said five people were killed in the latest US air raid on the neighbourhood, a stronghold of militants loyal to firebrand cleric Moqtada Sadr.
The US military said it had killed four targeted militants and destroyed rebel positions in the strikes.
Since the end of a US-led assault on Sadr`s Mehdi Army militia in the holy city of Najaf in August, Iraqi forces and the US military have cracked down on the movement, arresting many of Sadr`s deputies, raiding offices and seizing arms.
Five Iraqi farmers were killed and one injured when a roadside bombing near the restive town of Baquba, north of Baghdad, police and witnesses said.
Insurgents in the northern city of Mosul, the third largest in Iraq, detonated a car bomb against an Iraqi national guard patrol, killing two guardsmen and wounding three, medical and security sources said.
The fledgling national force has been the target of relentless attacks in recent months but as it faces increasing pressure to secure the country in time for January elections, it suffered a serious blow to its credibility on Sunday.
The US military announced it had detained a senior national guard commander for eastern Iraq on suspicion of links with insurgents.
Meanwhile, Iranian diplomat Fereydun Jahani, who was kidnapped on August 4 on the road from Baghdad to the Shiite pilgrimage city of Karbala, where he had been appointed to open an Iranian consulate, was released.
The diplomat spoke to AFP at the Iranian embassy in Baghdad and said no deal had been struck to end his 55-day ordeal.
"Their first claim was the non-interference of Iran in Iraq`s internal affairs," he said. "When they understood that Iran had no such intentions and that we diplomats were here to serve Iranians living in Iraq, they decided to release me."
"They also demanded the release of Iraqi prisoners detained in Iran but were convinced by Iran`s insistence that no longer held any Iraqis," he added.
A foreign ministry in Tehran said the release came after "efforts by the Iranian foreign ministry and Iraqi officials."
The Islamic Army in Iraq had said it detained Jahani "for stirring sectarian strife and for activities outside his diplomatic duties".
The release was likely to revive hopes that the negotiations underway to secure the release of two French reporters kidnapped more than a month by the same organisation might be fruitful.
However there was still no word on the fate of the British hostage Bigley as two leaders of the Muslim Council of Britain left Baghdad following a 48-hour mission aimed at establishing contact with his captors.
The British embassy gave no details on the meetings due to have taken place since the two envoys arrived on Saturday night.
Bigley`s brother said he had received information the engineer was alive but accused Blair of sitting idly by.
Bigley was captured together with two US colleagues from their Baghdad home earlier this month. The two Americans later executed by their captors from thre Unity and Holy War group of Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, the most wanted man in Iraq.
Zarqawi`s group on Monday claimed responsibility for a double suicide car-bomb outside a US-Iraqi military base east of Fallujah the day before.
In a videotape obtained by AFP in Iraq, one of four masked gunmen read a statement saying the group had perpetrated Sunday`s attacks to avenge the killing by the US military of top Zarqawi aide Abu Anas al-Shami.
The footage shows the blurred face of one of the suicide bombers at the wheel of a blue pick-up truck, just moments before he rammed it into the barrier system at the entrance of the base.
Against the backdrop of daily violence, US Secretary of State Colin Powell acknowledged that the poll timetable could be difficult because of what he described as a worsening insurgency.
"And the reason it`s getting worse is that they are determined to disrupt the election. They do not want the Iraqi people to vote for their own leaders in a free, democratic elections," said Powell.
His remarks contrasted with the rosy picture of growing stability in Iraq painted by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi during his visit to Washington last week to address the US Congress and to meet President George W. Bush.
Despite stable oil exports over the past few days, relentless violence and the threat of a bloody run-up to the elections contributed to new record high oil prices.
The price of New York-traded light sweet crude for November delivery climbed to an all-time high of 49.43 dollars a barrel in pre-opening electronic trade.