Five Britons abducted in Iraq

Gunmen in police uniforms kidnapped five Britons in Baghdad yesterday and the deaths of 10 US soldiers were announced, making May the deadliest month for the US military in more than two years.

The gunmen seized the Britons from a Finance Ministry building in eastern Baghdad. Two ministry employees who witnessed the kidnapping said at least one computer expert and several bodyguards were taken in the daylight raid.

Britain's Foreign Office in London said five Britons were kidnapped. "Officials from the British embassy in Baghdad are in urgent contact with the Iraqi authorities to establish the facts and to try to secure a swift resolution," said a spokesman.

At least 38 people were killed when a bomb on a parked minibus exploded in central Baghdad and a car bomb exploded in a busy market in a southwestern Shi'ite district.

The US military said 10 soldiers were killed in Iraq on Monday, taking the total for May to 114, the deadliest month for US troops since November 2004, when 137 soldiers were killed.

Two were killed when their helicopter came down under enemy fire in Diyala province, where 3,000 reinforcements have been sent to combat a spike in violence. Troops heading to the crash site were hit by roadside bombs that killed six.

Two other soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol in southern Baghdad.

The 10 deaths happened as Americans observed Memorial Day services for their war dead.

The US military has said it anticipated heavier casualties when it began pouring thousands of extra troops into Baghdad and other areas as part of a security crackdown aimed at averting all-out sectarian civil war.

A total of 3,465 US soldiers have died in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion to topple Saddam Hussein. Tens of thousands of Iraqis have also died.

There were conflicting reports over the kidnapping at the Iraqi Finance Ministry computer centre in Palestine Street, particularly over the nationality of those taken. Police and witnesses initially said Germans and Americans were among them.

The ministry official who witnessed the kidnapping said it took place as several computer experts gave a lecture on organising electronic contracts. She said another lecturer escaped abduction because he was not sitting with the others.

The gunmen entered the room led by a man wearing a police major's uniform, the witness said.

The gunmen shouted: "Where are the foreigners, where are the foreigners?" she said.

A second Ministry employee said she recognised one lecturer and two bodyguards among those who were taken.