Gunmen have raided a hospital in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, freeing a wounded man who was detained for plotting to kill a judge involved in Saddam Hussein's trial.
A police official says three police guards were killed and six others were wounded in the early morning attack Wednesday.
Elsewhere, an American soldier was killed Tuesday near the western town of Habbaniya when his vehicle hit a mine.
Meanwhile, in London, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Britain cannot meet the demands of kidnappers holding a British peace activist and three other Westerners hostage in Iraq. Mr. Straw said no government could meet their demands.
The kidnappers have threatened to kill the hostages unless Iraqi detainees are released from American and Iraqi jails by Thursday.
Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.