Dozens killed in Sunni clash in Iraq

A battle between Sunni Arab militants and Sunni Islamist al-Qaeda northeast of Baghdad has left at least 32 people dead.

About 200 gunmen stormed into the villages of Sheikh Tamim and Ibrahim Yehia and executed three young men and the imam of a mosque, according to police and residents.

This triggered a confrontation with local militants who killed ten of the attackers. Police said they arrested 22 of the al-Qaeda fighters.

The al-Qaeda fighters kidnapped 15 women and children before retreating.

The two villages are in Diyala province, where US troops are cracking down on al-Qaeda and other Sunni Arab militants who are using the region as a launch pad for attacks in Baghdad.

Baquba police chief Brigadier-General Ali Delayan said the attackers shelled the villages with mortars before storming them. They also used rocket-propelled grenades and reduced some houses to rubble.

The fighting is an example of the violent power struggle between al-Qaeda-linked militants and Iraqi Sunni Arab militant groups who, until just few months ago, were fighting side by side against US forces and the Shia-led government.

Al-Qaeda's severe interpretation of Islam and indiscriminate killing of civilians have provoked Sunni Arab tribes in Iraq's western and central provinces to revolt against them.

On Wednesday, US President George W Bush, under pressure to show progress in the war or start bringing troops home, compared Iraq to Vietnam and urged Americans to be patient.

His administration had previously avoided such comparisons, saying there were few parallels.

Many US Democrats have likened Iraq to Vietnam, calling the war a quagmire that has exacted a toll in American lives and money without furthering US interests.

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