Three American soldiers were killed in a suicide attack on Sunday during combat operations in the Iraqi city of Baqouba, north of Baghdad, the US military said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas dispatched top aides to Washington on Sunday to try to narrow differences with Israel and ensure wide Arab participation in a US-led peace conference.

Key Arab governments will announce Friday if they will attend a US-backed Mideast peace conference aimed at relaunching the stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, said an Arab League official Sunday.