A US soldier fired into a crowd of Iraqi protesters outside the headquarters of the US-led administration in Baghdad this morning, killing two people.
The shooting occurred when a US military convoy passed through a crowd led by up to 2,000 former Iraqi soldiers who were protesting at their having been sacked by the new US administration.
"There is no god but Allah, America is the enemy of Allah," the crowd chanted. "Down, down USA."
US military officials said a US soldier had fired in self-defence after the convoy was pelted with rocks and two Iraqis were injured and later died.
Earlier, a US soldier was killed andanother wounded in a drive-by shooting in central Baghdad.The US Central Command spokesman said the soldiers, from the 1st ArmoredDivision, were hit by shots fired from a passing vehicle.
The sacked Iraqi soldiers were disgruntled over losing their jobs when US administrator Mr Paul Bremer dissolved Saddam's armed forces last month.
Mr Bremer's drive to destroy the legacy of Saddam's Baathist rule has laid off up to 400,000 Iraqis who worked in the now-disbanded armed forces, security services and information and defence ministries, with no prospect of reintegration.
"We were in a peaceful demonstration asking the U.S. to give us our salaries," Abdul-Rahim Hassan, a former soldier, told Reuters. "We were not fighting them, but suddenly they started shooting at us."
US Army Captain Scott Nauman, whose men were guarding the compound, told CNN television that Iraqis on the other side of the street had been throwing rocks for nearly an hour before the shooting, but no one had been hurt until the convoy arrived.
Asked if there had been shooting from the crowd, he replied: "No, not to my knowledge.
At least 41 soldiers have been killed by hostile action since May 1st, when US President George W. Bush declared major combat operations over in Iraq. The US military blames the attacks on gunmen loyal to ousted President Saddam Hussein.
Faced with widespread crime and a wave of attacks, the US- led administration in Iraq said it issued an order outlawing the incitement of violence against occupying forces and Iraqi citizens, and would set up a new criminal court.