US MILITARY DENIES AIR STRIKES ON WESTERN IRAQ

    The US military Wednesday denied an earlier report about its airstrikes on two cities west of Baghdad.

    "There were no air operations in the cities" of Haditha and Haqlaniyah, both of which are situated in the volatile province of Anbar, the US military said.

    Local residents and medics told Xinhua earlier that the airstrikes took place after the US forces were attacked by insurgents near the Haditha hospital and four people were wounded in the raids.

    They also said the US soldiers detained the hospital guards for several hours.

    Meanwhile, witnesses said a US base in Ramadi was attacked with mortar rounds and US soldiers immediately sealed off the roads leading to the city.

    Iraq's Anbar province, which includes restive cities of Ramadi, Fallujah and Haditha, has long been a hotbed of insurgency against US troops and Iraqi's fledgling security forces.     

    BULGARIA TO WITHDRAW TROOPS FROM IRAQ BY END OF 2005

    The Bulgarian Defense Ministry on Wednesday announced it will propose all its troops be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of 2005.

    Defense Minister Nikolai Svinarov will submit the proposal to the cabinet Thursday, and then to the parliament which has the final say on troop deployments abroad.

    Bulgaria has lost eight soldiers since the start of the US-led military action in Iraq. The eighth one was killed by US "friendly" fire three weeks ago, which triggered strong calls in Bulgaria for a complete pullout from Iraq.

    President Georgi Parvanov had called for a fast decision on troops pullout from Iraq, while latest opinion polls showed that more than 60 percent of Bulgarians opposed the country's military involvement in Iraq. Enditem