NEAR FALLUJAH, Iraq (AP) - A car bomb killed eight US Marines outside Fallujah yesterday, the deadliest attack against the US military in nearly six months. Marines pounded guerrilla positions on the outskirts of Fallujah, where American forces are gearing up for a major assault on the insurgent stronghold.

The Marines later reported a ninth combat death yesterday but did not say whether it was in the car bombing or another action. Efforts to contact the Marines for clarification were unsuccessful.

In Baghdad, another car bomb exploded outside an Arabic television network's offices, killing seven people and injuring 19 in the biggest attack against a news organisation since the occupation began last year.

It was a day in which at least 31 people died in politically-motivated violence across the country - stark evidence of a security situation threatening to spiral out of control.

Late yesterday, the decapitated body of a young Asian male was found in an insurgent-infested neighbourhood of Baghdad, and hospital officials believed it was that of Japanese hostage Shosei Koda, 24, although his identity was not confirmed.

An al-Qaeda-linked group led by Jordanian terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi threatened to behead the Japanese backpacker unless Tokyo withdrew its soldiers from Iraq. Japan has rejected that demand.

South of Baghdad, witnesses said a US convoy came under attack, prompting Iraqi forces to open fire randomly and throw hand grenades, hitting three minibuses and three vans. At least 14 people were killed, hospital officials said.

The Marine deaths came when a car bomb went off next to a truck southwest of Baghdad, said Major Clark Watson of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force. Nine other Marines were wounded in the attack in western Anbar province, which includes Fallujah and other insurgent strongholds, the military said.

It was the biggest number of American military deaths in a single day since May 2, when nine US troops were killed in separate mortar attacks and roadside bombings in Baghdad, Ramadi and Kirkuk.

American forces are preparing for a major assault on Fallujah in an effort to restore control to a swath of Sunni Muslim towns north and west of the capital ahead of crucial national elections due by January 31.

Yesterday, insurgents fired mortars at Marine positions outside Fallujah. US troops responded with "the strongest artillery barrage in recent weeks", said Marine spokesman 1st Lt Lyle Gilbert.

Later, a Marine Harrier jet bombed a guerrilla mortar position inside Fallujah, then strafed it with machine-gun fire, Gilbert said. He had no reports of insurgent casualties.

Crowds of Iraqis peered skyward as two warplanes circled over the rebel-held city, where large explosions rumbled yesterday afternoon. Insurgents fired rockets and mortars toward US Marine positions.

"This is very painful for Fallujah. I think they're destroying the town and killing families there," said Saadoun Mohamed, a 35-year-old driver near Fallujah.
"It's very complicated. I don't know how to solve this problem," he said through an Iraqi Marine translator.

Clashes between US troops and insurgents also started yesterday in Ramadi, west of Fallujah. Two policemen were killed and four Iraqis injured in the crossfire, said Dr Saleh al-
Duleimi of the Ramadi General Hospital.

In Baghdad, the car bomb exploded outside the office of the
Al-Arabiya television network, a satellite broadcaster based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Seven people were killed and 19 injured, police and hospital officials said.

Three bodies, including one of a woman, were mangled beyond recognition, said Al-Arabiya correspondent Najwa Qassem. It could not be determined whether any of those bodies were of Al-Arabiya employees. However, she confirmed that one guard and one administration worker were among the dead.

The blast collapsed the first floor of the building, where staffers were meeting, said Saad al-Husseini, a correspondent of MBC, a sister channel of Al-Arabiya based in the same building.

Employees "were trapped between fire and the shattering shards of glass", he said. That "led to the high number of casualties. We were all there".
Al-Arabiya's managing editor, Abdulrahman al-Rashed, said seven people remained missing.

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