07 January 2004	Wednesday	14 Ziqa'ad 1424

BAGHDAD, Jan 6: Two French nationals were killed and a third wounded in a drive-by shooting by guerillas on Monday near the restive Iraqi town of Fallujah, a US general said on Tuesday.

"They were basically gunned down by some terrorists,' Major General Charles Swannack, commander of the 82nd Airborne Division, told a press conference. The French nationals traveling in two sports-utility vehicles stopped when one of their cars broke down around noon Monday 12 kilometres east of Fallujah, Swannack said.

While trying to repair the broken-down vehicle, a car sped by and sprayed them with gunfire, Swannack said. He described the French nationals as "contracted individuals" working on Iraq's electricity reconstruction projects.

In Paris, the foreign ministry said they were working for US companies tasked with rebuilding infrastructure. Their identities were not revealed. Sports-utility vehicles are the car of choice for coalition officials, some aid agencies and private businesses.

As the US military has become harder to hit, guerillas have attacked such cars on the highways they suspect are associated with US rebuilding projects.On November 29, seven Spanish intelligence agents traveling in sports-utility vehicles were killed south of Baghdad and two Japanese diplomats were gunned down driving outside Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit. The next day two South Korean diplomats were killed in a similar episode on the highway outside Tikrit.-AFP