US marines are reportedly conducting house-to-house searches in the town of Sadah in western Iraq as they continue their assault on what the US says are al-Qaeda-linked militants.
Some 1,000 ground troops stormed the town near the Syrian border yesterday.
The US military says Sadah is a base for insurgents.
Separately in the capital, Baghdad, five judges have been chosen for the trial of Saddam Hussein over a Shi'ite massacre in 1982.
Saddam and seven others are due to go on trial on 19 October over the incident, in which 143 Shi'ite Muslims were killed.
They face the death penalty if found guilty.
Meanwhile in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah, ministers from Arab League states are meeting this afternoon to discuss a joint strategy for Iraq which could include sending observers to monitor 15 October’s referendum on Iraq’s draft constitution.
