Iraqi party suspends ties with US over raid

Iraq's biggest Sunni Arab political party suspended all dealings with US civilian and military personnel yesterday after US and Iraqi forces carried out a raid in which a man was killed.

The incident could increase tension in a part of Iraq that was once the heartland of the insurgency against US forces but has become among the quietest parts of the country over the past two years.

US forces said one man had been arrested and one had been killed in a joint US-Iraqi raid against a suspected militant on Friday in the town of Falluja. The Iraqi Islamic Party, headed by Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, said the targets of the raid were senior party officials. Five people had been detained and one killed "in his bed", it said in a statement.