The driver, one of at least six people killed in attacks across the country, among them a general, was an employee of national carrier Iraqi Airways, an airport source said, on condition of anonymity.

US army spokesman Colonel Barry Johnson said the convoy was on the highway heading for the Camp Victory American base base near the airport before sunrise when a car approached "at high speed from the rear without its lights on."

"The driver failed to slow down, turn on his lights or react to hand-and-arm signals and other escalation-of-force procedures from the convoy," Johnson said.

The vehicle was perceived as a threat, and US soldiers opened fire. "We deeply regret that this action resulted in the death of an Iraqi who was driving the vehicle," Johnson said.

Iraqi drivers, he added, "know that they must use caution and avoid threatening behaviour when approaching military vehicles."

The highway to the airport, known within the US military as "Route Irish" and grimly dubbed "RPG (rocket-propelled grenade) alley," has long been considered as among the most dangerous in the world.

Those using the road were subject to daily attacks from insurgents during the peak of a Shiite-Sunni sectarian war in 2006 and 2007.

The pothole-littered highway was lined on both sides with blast walls, with burning cars a frequent sight as Sunni Arab fighters at the centre of an anti-US insurgency after the 2003 invasion routinely fired rockets and missiles at motorists.

In 2007 alone, the US military logged around 180 attacks involving Route Irish. In contrast, this year just eight have been recorded.

Baghdad's mayor announced a week ago that he wanted to beautify the airport road by the time the Iraqi capital hosts an Arab League summit in March next year.

Also on Sunday, gunmen equipped with silencers killed a brigadier general as he drove through eastern Baghdad, an interior ministry official said.

Elsewhere, six gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniform entered the home in Al-Meshadeh, 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of Baghdad, of an official with the Sahwa ("Awakening"), a Sunni militia formed to fight against Al-Qaeda.

"They dragged Sheikh Karim al-Elbussi from his house and shot him dead, along with his 15-year-old son, before taking flight," a local police official said.

The Sahwa, known in the US army as the "Sons of Iraq," was recruited from among Sunni Arab tribesmen and ex-insurgents, and played a key role in curbing Sunni-Shiite sectarian bloodshed which claimed thousands of lives in 2006-2007.

Police said that two men on a motorbike, including a Kurdish security official, were shot dead in the northern oil city of Kirkuk.

Despite the latest deaths, violence across the country has dropped dramatically in the past year, although attacks are still common in Baghdad and the main northern city of Mosul.

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