Four Iraqi prisoners killed in riot

BAGHDAD -- US troops in Iraq shot and killed four inmates during a prison riot yesterday, the military said.

Six prisoners were wounded in the violence, which affected hundreds of detainees at Camp Bucca in southern Iraq on the day after the Iraqi election.

There were no serious injuries among the Americans during 45 minutes of rioting, Lieutenant Colonel Barry Johnson said. Troops killed the four with rifles after failing to quell the riot with plastic pellets fired from shotguns.

Johnson said the prisoners were all men but declined to identify them. ''We're not sure exactly what sparked it," he said. ''There's no obvious connection with the election."

The cause will be investigated by commanders and the Army's Criminal Investigations Division, which is standard procedure in detainee deaths.

Prisoners began throwing rocks and fashioning weapons after a routine search for contraband in one of 10 compounds at the camp near the port of Umm Qasr, the military said.

Violence spread to three other compounds, which together house more than 2,900 of Camp Bucca's 5,300 inmates.