Two foreign bodies were found in Iraq

Iraqi police found the bodies of a man and a woman who are believed to be Westerners south of Baghdad, an Iraqi hospital official said Sunday.

The official said that man's body was decapitated and his hands were tied behind his back. The woman, who had blonde hair, had been shot in the head, the official said.

Police found the bodies Saturday near Yusufiya, about 13 miles (20 km) south of &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/war/2003/04/08/45800.html' target=_blank>Baghdad. Both of the bodies, which appeared to have light skin color, were brought to a hospital in Mahmudiya later in the day.

The bodies have not been identified, the Tehran Times reported.

The hospital said the woman had been found &to=http:// english.pravda.ru/economics/2002/09/03/35889.html ' target=_blank>wearing jewellery, an apparent sign that it was not a case of common crime.

The area around Yusifiya and the neighbouring towns of Mahmudiya and Latifiya are known to Baghdad residents as the "triangle of death".