BAGHDAD, Dec 4: Thirteen US troops were killed in Iraq over the weekend including four in a military helicopter crash in the restive west of the country, the US military said on Monday.

The mounting US death toll came as US President George W. Bush, whose administration is under mounting pressure to find a way out of the conflict, prepared to hold White House talks with a powerful Iraqi Shia leader.

The military said the Marine Corps Sea Knight helicopter with 16 people on board crashed on Sunday into Lake Qadisiyah in the mainly Sunni Arab province of Al-Anbar. “The incident does not appear to be a result of enemy action and is currently under investigation,” it said.

Twelve people survived the crash while one marine was pulled out of the water but could not be revived. The bodies of three other service members were recovered on Monday.

The CH-46 Sea Knight entered service in the early 1960s and is one of the oldest models in use with the US military. The entire 218-strong fleet was briefly taken out of service in 2002 after faults were found.

The US military death toll in Iraq -- which dipped last month after a high in October during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan -- has climbed back since the start of December.

Fatalities announced on Monday brought to 2,898 the number of US military losses since the US-led invasion in March 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein, according to a count based on Pentagon figures.

Later Monday, Bush was expected to hold talks with Iraqi Shia leader Abdel Aziz al-Hakim on the situation in a country which UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said is embroiled in bloodshed worse than a civil war.—AFP