Clashes, U S troops in Baghdad Sunni neighbourhood

BAGHDAD, July 2 (Reuters) Mortar and gunfire rang across a Sunni district in Baghdad today and militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades prowled the streets, a Reuters witnness said.

It was not immediately clear who was involved in the clashes in Adhamiya, a Sunni insurgent stronghold near the Shi'ite Sadr City where a car bomb killed 60 people yesterday.

Sectarian tensions have been running high in Baghdad since a Shi'ite shrine was bombed in the town of Samarra last February, touching off a wave of reprisal killings.

A Reuters cameraman at the scene saw U S armoured vehicles entering Adhamiya and U S helicopters flew over the area.

There was no comment from the U S military and it was not clear if the Americans were involved in the clashes.

Police had earlier said between 10 and 15 mortar rounds had slammed into Adhamiya.

Yesterday's blast in eastern Sadr City, a stronghold of Shi'ite militias loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, drew angry responses from residents against Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's national reconciliation plan.

Sadr supporters fell short of calling for revenge for the blast, which was claimed by a previously unknown Sunni armed group, but have poured scorn on Maliki's efforts to reach out to the once-dominant Sunni minority.

A Shi'ite member of Iraq's parliament escaped an attempt to kidnap her today but several bodyguards were abducted, colleagues said, one day after a Sunni member of parliament was abducted in Baghdad.

REUTERS SHB BST2129