BAGHDAD, Dec. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- A US soldier and three Iraqis were killed in a bomb attack targeting a US military convoy in eastern Baghdad early on Friday, the US military said.

    The incident took place near the Samari mosque in the New Baghdad neighborhood at about 9:20 a.m. (0620 GMT) when an improvised explosive device detonated between the first and the second vehicles in the three-vehicle convoy, the military said in astatement.

    The solider, belonging to the 22nd Signal Brigade, fell victim to the attack, which brought to 190 the number of US soldiers killed by hostile fire in Iraq since US President George W. Bushdeclared the major fighting over on May 1.

    More than a dozen others were injured as the area was crowded with venders, praying people and civilian passenger cars. Friday is day of rest in Muslim countries.

    The attack, the first that inflicted death toll on US militaryin Baghdad in the past three weeks, came ahead of an expected visitby US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld.

    The US hawkish official has visited Kabul, Afghanistan, on thepossibility of an all-out NATO takeover of the war-torn country.NATO is also supposed to enlarge its presence in Iraq to helpthe United States with its mission, a gesture welcomed by Iraq'sinterim foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari. Enditem