BAGHDAD, Sept. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- Twelve Iraqi policemen were killedand five national guardsmen wounded Saturday in a joint US-Iraqioffensive on Latifiya, a stronghold of insurgency south of Baghdad,Dubai-based al-Arabiya satellite channel reported.

    The US-led Iraqi forces have arrested 200 suspects in Latifiya,some 40 km south of Baghdad, the channel said.

    The flashpoint towns of Latifiya and Mahmudiya, 25 km south ofBaghdad, are located on a main road that links Baghdad with theneighboring southern city of Hilla.

    Police have shut down the road from Mahmudiya to Latifiya, whichhave long been under the control of insurgents who regularly attackpolice stations and ambush cars on the road.

    Two French journalists, Christian Chesnot of Radio FranceInternationale and Georges Malbrunot of Paris daily Le Figaro, werekidnapped by a radical Islamist group on August 20 while travelingthe perilous road. Enditem