Three US soldiers killed in Iraq

Attackers killed two American soldiers in a mortar attack and a third died from a roadside bomb blast in the latest strikes against US occupation forces in Iraq, military officials said yesterday.

The Saturday night attacks and an assassination attempt on a member of Iraq's US-backed Governing Council earlier in the day cast a shadow over efforts by the country's interim leaders to entice investors with a raft of liberal economic measures.

Iraq's new finance minister announced the reforms, including allowing foreign investments into all sectors except oil, in Dubai yesterday. But the violence plaguing the country is bound to make many investors extremely wary.

Under cover of darkness, guerillas fired two mortar bombs on Saturday evening at the Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad which is guarded and run by the US Army.

"There were two soldiers killed and 13 wounded," a military spokeswoman said, adding that the dead were military police.

She said no detainees were injured in the attack. On August 17, assailants fired mortar rounds on the prison killing six Iraqis and wounding 59.