BAGHDAD, Aug 24: A US soldier from the Third Armoured Cavalry Regiment died of a gunshot wound in Baghdad on Saturday, a military spokesman said on Sunday. No further details were available.

Meanwhile, the US army arrested former Iraqi general Subhi Kamal Erzeyek on Sunday morning in the restive northwestern town of Hit, his nephew told AFP.

“My uncle, who was a director of the Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Brigades in Najaf, was arrested at 5am (0100 GMT) in the house of a friend in Hit, since he fled his own home because of the searches,” said Hosham Khaled, 23.

The Al-Quds Brigades was formed by Saddam Hussein at the start of the second Palestinian uprising or intifada in September 2000.

The group was one of a handful of paramilitary organisations that put up fierce resistance to the US-led invasion this spring.

DROWNS: A US soldier from the 3rd Armoured Cavalry Regiment drowned in the Euphrates river at 8:30 pm (1630 GMT) on Saturday near Ramadi, 100 kilometres west of Baghdad, the US Central Command said on Sunday.