An Iraqi provincial leader has accused the U.S. military of violating Iraq's sovereignty by conducting a raid that killed a relative of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Iraqi officials say U.S. troops backed by helicopters raided the town of Hindiyah, near the Shi'ite holy city of Karbala early Friday and killed an Iraqi security guard related to Mr. Maliki.
Karbala's governor, Aqil al-Khuzaie said Sunday that the U.S. operation violated an agreement that transferred his province to Iraqi control last year.
The U.S. military says troops shot the man in self-defense after seeing him emerge from a building holding an AK-47 rifle as if to fire. The military says it "deeply regrets" the loss of life and is investigating the incident.
In another development, a car bomb killed seven Iraqi policemen in the north-central town of Duluiya, in Salahuddin province on Sunday.
In other violence, gunmen in Baghdad killed a visiting intelligence chief from the southern city of Basra in a drive-by shooting Saturday. The official, Brigadier General Jabar Musaid, was killed while visiting relatives in a neighborhood controlled by Shi'ite militias.
Also, the U.S. military says troops killed two terrorists in Baghdad Saturday during raids targeting al-Qaida propaganda operatives.
The U.S. raid in Hindiyah that killed a relative of the prime minister comes at a sensitive time for U.S.-Iraqi relations.
Washington is negotiating a deal with Baghdad to allow U.S. forces to stay in Iraq beyond December 31, when their United Nations mandate expires. Iraqi officials have said any deal must not violate their country's sovereignty.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
