Wednesday, August 31 2005 09:36 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Baghdad: US air strikes on suspected Al-Qaeda hideouts in Iraq near the Syrian border left at least 56 people dead yesterday (Aug 30, 2005), an Iraqi security source said.

US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, meanwhile, said that changes to the newly drafted constitution were still possible, raising the hopes of Iraq's disgruntled Sunni Arabs.

The move came as the Sunnis, whose community is believed to form the backbone of the raging insurgency, were seeking alliances to defeat the charter in an October 15 referendum.

"At least 56 people were killed in the air strikes carried out by US forces near Qaim close to the Syrian border," a security source told sources. The US military said it had no exact number of casualties.

"There was a total of three strikes targeting terrorist safe houses. Abu Islam and several associates are believed killed," a US military spokesman in Baghdad said, referring to a reported Al-Qaeda operative.

Abu Islam was holed up around Karabila near Qaim, 450 kilometres west of Baghdad, he added.

The US military launched similar strikes last Friday against another suspected Al-Qaeda hideout also in the restive Al-Anbar province of western Iraq.

Khalilzad hinted that the draft constitution presented to Parliament on Sunday after weeks of tortuous negotiations, which failed to bring the Sunnis on board, was still an incomplete document.

"If Iraqis amongst themselves, in the assembly and of course from outside, decide to make some adjustments to the draft that was presented two or three days ago, it is entirely up to them," he told reporters.