Turkey has protested to the United States, after accusing American troops of arresting 11 of its soldiers in northern Iraq.

"It's a totally ugly incident, it's something that shouldn't have happened," said Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Several hours later, Mr Erdogan said some of the men had been released but did not specify the number.

Reports in the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet suggested the special forces troops were detained in the city of Sulaymaniyah on Friday on suspicion of planning an attack on a regional governor.

One United States soldier serving in Iraq has been killed and at least 19 wounded in two separate attacks, the US military says.
One serviceman from the First Armoured Division was shot dead in Baghdad on Thursday night, when his Bradley vehicle came under sniper fire.
In the second attack, mortar rounds were fired at a US military base near the town of Balad, north of Baghdad.

"We call for using the legal and peaceful methods in order to put an end to this invasion and occupation, by using at first the peaceful methods and ways," he told The Times in the holy city of Najaf. "If this will not give success, then we will think about other methods."

A fatal explosion at a mosque in the Iraqi town of Falluja was caused by a bomb-making class, the US military has said.
Local residents have blamed the blast, which killed nine people, on a US missile attack, saying aircraft had been heard overhead just beforehand.
The US denies this version of events, saying investigations by the military and the Fallujah police had exonerated US military forces of any involvement.
The flashpoint town, 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of Baghdad, has been the scene of regular attacks on US troops since clashes with the local population in April in which the Americans killed at least 15 people.[...]
"The explosion was apparently related to a bomb manufacturing class that was being taught inside the mosque," US Central Command said in a statement.

The United States and Britain have insisted they will not pull out of Iraq, despite attacks on their troops.
On a visit to Iraq, UK Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the incidents had increased London's and Washington's determination to root out remnants of Saddam Hussein's regime and his Baath party.
Mr Straw's comments echoed US President George W Bush's pledge on Tuesday to meet attacks with "direct and decisive force".

US troops have come under fresh attack in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, with reports saying at least three soldiers were injured.
In one incident in central Baghdad, a military vehicle was wrecked, apparently by a rocket-propelled grenade.
Reports from the scene quoted eyewitnesses as saying three soldiers and one other person were killed, but several hours later there was no confirmation from the American authorities.

US troops patrolling the holy Shiite Muslim city of Najaf heap praise on Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani for having used his community standing to foster a smooth coexistence between the people and coalition forces.
"The most important aspect why this city is so stable is that we have someone like Ayatollah Sistani," said Marine Major Rick Hall...

"There is a debate," the mayor says. "When you go to the street, people say: 'We are against the Americans.' But sheikhs, imams, and educated people say: 'Don't hurt the Americans, because that hurts us, too.'"
Mayor Hamid even presided over a meeting last Friday during which religious leaders in Fallujah "agreed that it was no longer allowed to shoot Americans in the city, and instead to work with the Americans. All of them agreed."
That shifting attitude reflects the results of a first-ever poll of Iraqis, reported by CBS earlier this month, that nearly two-thirds of Baghdad residents want US forces to stay until Iraq is stable and secure, and that only 17 percent want US troops to go home immediately. Iraqis say that result is accurate, but by default: While they are grateful the US has removed Saddam Hussein, and note that US troops are now critical to reestablishing yearned-for security, they still don't approve of their stay here.
"They are occupiers," says Fallujah truck driver Nouri Khalil, clicking his small wooden prayer beads while waiting for business on a sweltering street corner. "But if they leave, there will be no security. We want the Americans to form an Iraqi government, so they can go."

An Iraqi businessman detained during a raid on his home says U.S. interrogators deprived him of sleep, forced him to kneel naked and kept him bound hand and foot with a bag over his head for eight days.
Khraisan al-Abally's story, told to an Associated Press correspondent, comes as an Amnesty International report released Monday harshly criticizes American interrogation techniques.
A U.S. Army officer confirmed receiving a complaint from al-Abally, but coalition officials declined to discuss his account. The activist group Human Rights Watch said it was trying to corroborate his story.

Insurgents fired a rocket propelled grenade at a military vehicle in the restive town of Fallujah, injuring an "embedded'' reporter with NBC News, the military said Monday. Three Iraqis were killed when their pickup truck slammed into a vehicle helping evacuate the wounded reporter.

An ammunition dump has exploded in Iraq, killing at least 25 people, according to reports.
Many of the dead were said to have been looting the site at the time, looking for artillery casings to sell.
Local residents quoted by Reuters news agency said scores of people were also injured in the blast, which happened in a desert area near the town of Haditha, about 260 kilometres (160 miles) north-east of the capital, Baghdad.
A spokesman for US Central Command in Baghdad said that the dump was Iraqi, not American.
Because of that, he said, US forces in the area were not taking responsibility for caring for the wounded.