Saddam Hussein's sons Uday and Qusay were killed in a six-hour gunbattle with US troops at a villa in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul on Tuesday after a tip-off from an Iraqi, the US military said.

This is an undated photo of Saddam Hussein with his sons, Odai, left, and Qusai. Odai and Qusai were killed in a six-hour firefight Tuesday, July 22, 2003 when U.S. forces surrounded and then stormed a palatial villa in a northern Iraqi town, a senior American general said. [AP Photo]

"We're certain that Uday and Qusay were killed," Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, commander of US forces in Iraq, told a hastily called news conference in Baghdad after four charred bodies taken from the Mosul villa were flown to the capital.

"They died in a fierce gunbattle," he said, adding they had barricaded themselves inside the house and fired small arms at US soldiers. Two other bodies removed from the villa were a grandson of Saddam and an aide of Uday, a US official said.

US President George W. Bush hailed the deaths of "brutal regime leaders" Uday and Qusay as "further assurance to the Iraqi people that the regime is gone and won't be back", White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters.

As word spread of the deaths of the feared and ruthless brothers, celebratory gunfire crackled across night-time Baghdad and financial markets were fuelled by optimism that Washington might now be able to get on top of postwar difficulties in Iraq.

Uday, 39, Saddam's eldest son, was notorious throughout Iraq for his cruelty and playboy lifestyle. Qusay, born in 1966, was one of his father's most trusted lieutenants and widely seen as his heir apparent.

"An Iraqi source informed the 101st airborne division today that several suspects including Qusay and Uday...were hiding at the residence," said Sanchez, adding that special forces had been called in for the operation.

The informant stands to claim at least part of the two $15 million rewards Washington put on the heads of Uday and Qusay.

US soldiers at the battered hulk of the once imposing concrete villa said a barrage of rocket and machinegun fire had been aimed at the residence. Four US troops were wounded.

SADDAM STILL ELUSIVE

Neighbours said the villa belonged to a businessman with close ties to Saddam's family.

There was no sign of Saddam himself. He is still thought to be on the run in Iraq three months after being ousted from power by US-led forces.

But the deaths of his sons will be a boost to US President George W. Bush and may help convince Iraqis that the threat of the old ruling family returning is now at an end.

Bush has been under pressure over a mounting death toll among US soldiers in guerrilla-style attacks that they blame on die-hard supporters of the former Iraqi leader.

A new ambush on Tuesday claimed the life of a sixth soldier in five days. A Sri Lankan Red Cross technician was killed in another incident, highlighting general lawlessness.

The attacks have occurred mostly in Sunni Muslim central Iraq where Saddam, a Sunni himself, had strongholds of support. The violence has dented efforts to get Iraq's oil industry powering a new economic start for the country.

Ordinary Iraqis have been grumbling ever more loudly about the failure of the occupying US and British forces to restore basic services and hand power back to Iraqis.

"(The deaths of Uday and Qusay) certainly is good news for the Iraqi people and it's good news for our forces," said Paul Bremer, head of the US-led administration in Iraq.

Delight spread among people in Baghdad as news from Mosul filtered through to the capital, although many said they could not relax until they had proof the brothers were dead.

Sanchez said he would address the issue of proof on Wednesday, but that "multiple" sources had identified Saddam's sons.

HATRED OF UDAY

A least one Baghdad man reflected widespread hatred in Iraq against Uday, who ran much of Iraq's media and sport.

"I don't want him dead. I want to torture him first," said Alaa Hamed, who was a producer at Uday's television channel.

He said Uday had personally beaten him with electrical cables when he made mistakes.

US forces have announced the capture of 34 of the 55 Iraqis on a most-wanted list of members of Saddam's regime. Qusay and Uday were numbers two and three.

The death on Tuesday of the 39th US soldier to be killed by hostile fire since Bush declared major combat over on May 1 highlighted the pressure his forces are under. Bush said on Monday he would welcome military help from abroad.

But countries such as France, Germany and Russia, which opposed the US and British invasion of Iraq, want a clearer UN mandate before getting involved in a messy situation which they had warned Washington could be the result from a war.

The UN Security Council on Tuesday met three delegates from Baghdad's new Iraqi Governing Council presenting a case for recognition. They were the first Baghdad delegates to go to the United Nations since Saddam was toppled.

But diplomats at the United Nations, scene of so much sharp diplomatic skirmishing over Iraq before US bombs began falling on March 20, said the Governing Council would not be allowed to take up Baghdad's seat in New York for now.

The 25-member Governing Council was appointed by US authorities in Baghdad nine days ago.

News of the deaths of Uday and Qusay triggered a five percent fall in oil prices as it raised hopes that looting and sabotage at Iraq's oil facilities might ease. The dollar gained.

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