File photo of US soldiers in Iraq helping a wounded fellow soldier.

BAGHDAD , January 7 (IslamOnline.net) - Nine US soldiers were killed in Iraq in the bloodiest day for American forces this year, as interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi extended emergency laws in what he sees as “a bid to quell violence” ahead of the January 30 elections.

Concern was also mounting for the fate of a French reporter missing in Iraq , according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

On Thursday, January 6, a bomb tore apart an armored fighting vehicle in Baghdad, killing seven US soldiers, while two marines died in the volatile western province of Al-Anbar, according to AFP.

It was the largest number of US troops killed in a single attack since last month's bombing in a military mess hall at a Mosul base that killed 22 people, including 14 US service members.

In Al-Anbar province, home to the resistance hubs of Ramadi and Fallujah, two US marines were killed in action, the US military said, but released no further details on the separate incidents.

The attacks came amid rising anti-American sentiments among ordinary Iraqis, who hope an end to more some 21-month old occupation of their oil-rich but chaotic country.

Coinciding with the mounting attacks or triggered by them, the New York Times reported that US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is sending a retired general to Iraq to conduct an “open-ended” review of the US military's Iraq policy, including troop levels.

In a move some lawmakers and military analysts said showed the deep concern of senior Pentagon officials for the deteriorating situation in Iraq, Gary E. Luck will have “extraordinary leeway” to look at all areas of the Iraqi operation and identify weaknesses, the NY Times reported.

Emergency

Allawi said he extended the emergency laws “because of the zealous determination by a clutch of terrorists”.

Meanwhile, with the controversial elections due January 30, Allawi extended emergency laws for 30 days in a bid to “thwart violence”, he and US officials portray as “aimed at intimidating voters”, called to choose a 275-seat parliament.

“Because of the zealous determination by a clutch of terrorists to prevent Iraqis from peacefully participating in the political process we have decided to extend the state of emergency,” Allawi said in a statement.

The emergency law was introduced for 60 days on November 7, the eve of the US assault on the western Baghdad city of Fallujah .

It gives Allawi the power to impose curfews, restrict movement between cities and set up around-the-clock courts where the government can obtain arrest warrants.

Curfews are already in place in Baghdad , Mosul , Baquba and other cities.

Elections, however, are still threatened, not only by attacks targeting US-led foreign troops and Iraqi troops, but also by the expected absence of Iraq 's sizeable Sunni population, whose many political and religious leaders are calling for its delay or boycott.

According to the internal State Department poll, only 32 percent of Sunnis are “very likely” to vote and 88 percent said they would stay away from the polls.

Leading Sunni scholars have warned the elections would legally establish the occupation of the oil-rich country by US-led forces amid a chaotic security scene in the country.

The second-in-command of US forces in Iraq , Lieutenant General Thomas Metz, admitted that security was lacking in four provinces, where the resistance fighters have thrived in central Iraq 's Sunni Muslim belt.

However, he insisted that delaying elections would be a mistake.

“A delay in elections is a wrong thing to do, from a military point of view. It gives thugs and terrorists more time for intimidation,” Metz told reporters.

Missing

Moving to the northern city of Mosul , bodies of 18 Iraqis apparently lured to their death by promises of work at a US base were uncovered Thursday.

And in a separate development, a French newspaper said one of its correspondents was missing.

French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said he was worried about the fate of a journalist from the daily Liberation, who vanished in Baghdad Wednesday along with her Iraqi translator.

“We don't know what has happened,” said Barnier, of the case of Florence Aubenas.

“We are worried but we have no certainties” about what happened to the two, Barnier told French television.

Aubenas, 43, and Hussein Hanoun Al-Saadi left their Baghdad hotel early Wednesday, January 5, and have not been seen since.