FALLUJA, Iraq - A crowd of cheering Iraqis dragged the charred and mutilated bodies of four contractors working for the U.S.-led coalition through the streets of Falluja Wednesday after they died in an ambush.

In a separate attack five American soldiers were killed when a roadside bomb was detonated beside their convoy west of Baghdad, the U.S. army said.

Iraqis chant anti-American slogans as charred bodies hang from a bridge over the Euphrates River in Fallujah, west of Baghdad, Wednesday, March 31 2004. Enraged Iraqis in this hotbed of anti-Americanism killed four foreigners Wednesday, including at least one U.S. national, took the charred bodies from a burning SUV, dragged them through the streets, and hung them from the bridge. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

The Falluja violence began when two four-wheel-drive vehicles were attacked by guerrillas on a main road in the town, 32 miles west of Baghdad. A crowd then set the vehicles ablaze and hurled stones into the burning wreckage.

Brigadier General Mark Kimmitt, deputy director of operations for the U.S. army in Iraq, said all four contractors in the vehicles were killed. He did not give their nationalities.

Television pictures showed one incinerated body being kicked and stamped on by a member of the jubilant crowd, while others dragged a blackened body down the road by its feet.

As one body lay burning on the ground, an Iraqi came and doused it with petrol, sending flames soaring.

At least two bodies were tied to cars and pulled through the streets, witnesses said.

"This is the fate of all Americans who come to Falluja," said Mohammad Nafik, one of the crowd surrounding the bodies.

Some body parts were pulled off and left hanging from a telephone cable, while two incinerated bodies were later strung from a bridge and left dangling there.

A young boy beat one of the incinerated bodies after it was pulled down with his shoe as a crowd cheered.

"I am happy to see this. The Americans are occupying us so this is what will happen," said Mohammad, 12, looking on.

As the victims lay burning, a crowd of around 150 men chanted "Long live Islam" and "Allahu Akbar" ("God is Greatest") while flashing victory signs.

No U.S. soldiers or Iraqi police were seen in the area for hours after the attack, but a U.S. fighter plane screamed overhead, prompting the crowd to scatter.

Falluja has been one of the most violent, restive towns in Iraq since the U.S.-led occupation began. There are almost daily attacks on U.S. military convoys in the area.

FOREIGNERS TARGETED

More than 400 U.S. soldiers have been killed in action since the start of the war, many of them in attacks using improvised explosive devices in which an explosive charge is hidden in a plastic bag, soft drink can or dead animal and wired to a simple detonator.

As well as attacks on U.S. and coalition troops, there has been a sharp increase in insurgent strikes against foreign civilians in recent weeks.

In March alone, 12 foreign civilians have been killed in drive-by shootings or similar attacks. In the most recent incident, a Briton and a Canadian, both working as security guards, were shot and killed Sunday in the city of Mosul.

Earlier in March, two Finns were killed in Baghdad, and four U.S. missionaries were shot dead in Mosul. In Hilla, south of Baghdad, two Americans working for the U.S. civilian authority were shot in a drive-by shooting.

With less than 100 days to go before U.S. authorities hand over sovereignty to an Iraqi government, the U.S. military, Iraqi police and other local security forces are still battling to bring security to the country.

Attacks occur almost every day with rockets, grenades, assault rifles, small arms or suicide bombs somewhere in Iraq.

Wednesday, a suicide bomber detonated his car in Baquba, about 25 miles north of Baghdad, wounding around a dozen people. Tuesday a suicide car bomber attacked the house of the chief of police in Hilla, but killed only himself.

© Copyright 2004 Reuters Ltd

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