BAGHDAD, Nov 30 (AFP) - A US soldier and four Iraqi civilians died in a spate of attacks Tuesday, capping one of the deadliest months since the war and setting a bloody backdrop for efforts to keep landmark polls on schedule.
Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who has insisted the US-led onslaught on the former rebel bastion of Fallujah had curbed violence, was expected to travel to Jordan to try to win support from exiled opposition leaders for the elections.
Iraq also pursued its efforts to improve security and hold elections on time at an interior ministers' conference with its neighbours hosted by Iran.
Overnight, a roadside bomb attack on a US military vehicle north of Baghdad left one soldier dead, the military said, bringing the American death toll for November alone to 134.
The toll is one shy of the record of April 2004, when US forces were also facing insurgents on several fronts, including Fallujah.
According to Pentagon figures, the latest death brought to 1,251 the total number of US troops killed in Iraq since the launch of the US-led invasion in March 2003.
In other violence, a car bomb hit a US military convoy near the northern city of Baiji, killing four Iraqi civilians, wounding 17 and also injuring two US soldiers, a military spokesman said.
Also on Tuesday, another car bomb exploded on the perilous road to Baghdad airport, wounding five soldiers, an army statement said.
US and Iraqi forces have been involved in simultaneous assaults on Sunni insurgent strongholds across Iraq this month, with bids to reclaim the cities of Fallujah and Mosul and a vast sweep of the so-called "death triangle" south of Baghdad.
Two unidentified Iraqis were found dead in farmland near the town of Latifiyah, which marines wrested out of rebel control last week, as part of the ongoing Operation Plymouth Rock, an AFP correspondent said.
Although accurate counts were unavailable, one of the highest Iraqi tolls was also recorded this month.
A senior official said last week that more than 2,000 people had been killed during the fighting in Fallujah alone, although there was no breakdown of rebel and civilian deaths.
According to witnesses, more than 40 mostly expatriate Iraqis stranded at a northern crossing point with Turkey since the government closed the borders for the Fallujah operation drowned Tuesday in the Tigris when their barge capsized.
Amid the relentless violence, Allawi nevertheless took heart in the fact that no major car bombs had ripped through Baghdad in recent weeks and claimed that the general level of violence had dropped since the Fallujah operation.
"The level of criminal operations has receded and is continuing to drop following the operation in Fallujah," which was launched on November 8, Allawi said on state-owned Iraqiya television.
On Friday, several major Iraqi parties argued that security conditions did not allow the organization of viable polls across the country and called for a six-month delay.
But most of the relevant authorities rejected the idea and said everything would be done to hold the elections on January 30 as scheduled.
Opponents of a delay argue that the legitimacy deficit of the current hand-picked administration is one of the factors fueling support for the insurgency.
They add that there is no guarantee security conditions will be better in six months.
In a move which could potentially shape the future political landscape of Iraq, Shiite officials announced that a list backed by Grand Ayatollah al-Sistani would be presented to the electoral commission on Wednesday.
Sistani -- the highest religious Shiite authority in Iraq -- is one of the most powerful and popular figures in the country and commentators argue that any list endorsed by Sistani would be favourites in the polls.
In a gesture towards Sunni opposition groups and organisations with possible ties to the insurgency, Allawi was due to travel to Jordan to meet with exiled opposition leaders on Wednesday, according to officials in Amman.
The prime minister is expected to hold talks with members of ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's Baath party, many of whom live in Jordan.
And in further pre-electoral efforts, Iraq's Interior Minister Falah Naqib met in Tehran with his counterparts from neighbouring states in a bid to stem infiltrations by insurgents and improve border security.
11/30/2004 14:42 GMT - AFP