Insurgents attacked a car carrying at least three Westerners in the northern Iraq city of Mosul on Friday, killing them and their Iraqi driver, local witnesses said.

The white sedan was attacked while driving through western Mosul and set on fire.

A photographer saw three bodies lying on the street close to the blazing vehicle, all apparently Westerners.

One of them had been beheaded. A fourth person, apparently an Arab, could be seen lying nearby.

Insurgents also killed a US Marine during fighting in the violent Anbar Province west of Baghdad, the US military said.

The attack occurred on Thursday while the Marine was conducting "security and stabilization" operations, a statement said, but did not say where exactly the attack took place.

Anbar, a vast province covering much of western Iraq, includes the cities of Falluja and Ramadi, which are infiltrated with insurgents and where there has been near constant fighting for the past six weeks.

Families who fled the US-led assault on Falluja over a month ago could start returning to some parts of the Iraqi city as early as Friday, the city's mayor said.

"US forces will allow families to return to the Andalous area starting today under a 10-day timetable," Mahmoud Ibrahim said, referring to a neighborhood in southwest Falluja.

There was no immediate evidence of anyone returning.

More than 200,000 people have yet to return home and many are in need of aid as night temperatures in Iraq sink toward freezing. US forces have so far prevented refugees from returning, saying basic facilities must be restored first.

The city has been without power or water since the attack, which also destroyed hundreds of buildings and left power and communication lines severed and lying in the streets.

Iraq's interim government said on Thursday civilians would be allowed to begin returning home next week.

Iraqi ministers are due to meet tribal leaders and other notables from Sunni Muslim Falluja on Sunday to finalize plans for scattered residents to filter back.

The return of civilians has been delayed while the city is cleared of unexploded ordnance left by the attack. Sporadic fighting has stalled the beginning of re-construction.

The government has promised to compensate homeowners for damage to their properties from the attack launched on November 8.

(Agencies and China Daily December 18, 2004)