Doctor Ahmed Ghanem told Reuters that 11 bodies had been brought to Falluja general hospital after the bombing in the southeast of the city which reduced the house to rubble. The US military confirmed it had launched air strikes.

The US Marine Corps pulled out of the city earlier this year after fighting in April that killed hundreds of Iraqis. Critics of the withdrawal say the city has since become a haven for insurgents and foreign fighters.

Several times over the past two months the US military has launched air strikes on buildings in Falluja said to be safe houses for militants loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian accused of masterminding a series of suicide attacks.

Washington says Zarqawi is its number one enemy in Iraq and is offering a $25 million for him. His Tawhid and Jihad group claimed responsibility for two suicide car bombings on Saturday ? an attack on a convoy carrying the justice minister that killed five bodyguards, and a blast that killed a National Guard soldier in the south of Baghdad.

Zarqawi?s group has also beheaded an American and a South Korean hostage and said last week it had killed one of two Bulgarians it had kidnapped. Hopes are fading that the second Bulgarian is alive.

Beheading of hostages

A headless corpse dressed in an orange jumpsuit was found in a river in northern Iraq last week, probably the body of one of the Bulgarians. Zarqawi?s group dresses its hostages in orange jumpsuits before beheading them. The clothes mimic those worn by prisoners at US detention facilities like Guantanamo Bay.

Guerrillas in Iraq are also holding a Filipino and an Egyptian hostage, both truck drivers, but there are indications both may soon be freed.

The Philippines said it would complete the withdrawal of its military contingent from Iraq today, a move aimed at saving the life of hostage Angelo de la Cruz, a father of eight children.

Eleven of the 51-strong Philippine force have already left. De la Cruz?s kidnappers say they will free him once all the Philippine troops leave Iraq. ?The remaining members of the Philippine humanitarian contingent are finalising the turnover of their responsibilities?, Foreign Affairs Secretary Delia Albert said in Manila. She said the troops were expected to leave Iraq for Kuwait today.

Washington had urged the Philippines not to bow to terrorism, and Iraq?s interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has asked foreign countries with forces in Iraq to stand firm.

But the Philippines decided to withdraw its troops a month ahead of schedule after guerrillas threatened to kill de la Cruz who had been working in Iraq as a truck driver.

The captors of the Egyptian hostage said they would release him after the Saudi transport company he worked for pledged to stop doing business in Iraq. Businessman Faisal al-Neheit told Reuters a caller had telephoned from Iraq on Saturday to tell him that Mohammed al-Gharabawi would be freed.

Polish Prime Minister Marek Belka visited Iraq yesterday to preside over a change of command of the Polish-led multinational force.

Fadel BADRAN Carmina REYES