An American, along with two Arab nationals and an Asian, were taken hostage on Monday by gunmen in Baghdad, as violence continued in Iraq.

"A group of armed men kidnapped an American, an Asian, probably Nepalese or Sri Lankan, and two Arabs from their offices in Mansour district in western Baghdad," said Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Rahman.

An exchange of fire broke out when the guard at the compound tried to stop the kidnappers and one man was killed in the battle at about 5:30 p.m. (1430 GMT). The seized men worked for the SaudiArabian Investment company, added Rahman.

The incident was the latest in the series of kidnappings plaguing the country. Insurgents have abducted dozens of foreigners in Iraq and were believed to be still holding less thana dozen.

In late October, 24-year-old Japanese Shosei Koda was held and beheaded by a group of militants led by al-Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi days after he went to Baghdad on Oct. 21. He is the first Japanese killed in a hostage crisis involving anti-US militants who demanded Japan's troop pullout from Iraq.

In September, a gang barged into another villa in the well-off Mansour neighborhood, snatching two US businessmen and one Britishengineer, and all of whom were beheaded days later.

Meanwhile, violence continued in Iraq as an explosion at a hotel in Iraq's northern city of Tikrit on Sunday killed at least 15 people and injured eight others, said local hospital staff.

The blast hit the three-story Sunubar Hotel and sent frightenedguests running into the street. All the victims were Iraqis and two policemen were among the injured, said Hassan al-Juburi, director of the Tikrit Teaching Hospital.

The cause of the blast remained unclear so far, said local police.

Also on Sunday, Iraqi insurgents exchanged fire with US troops in Fallujah.

The insurgents fired mortar rounds and rockets at US Marines, who responded with artillery fire, said US Marine officials, noting US aircraft also struck suspected rebel positions.

Clashes were also reported between US forces and insurgents in Ramadi, west of Fallujah, killing seven Iraqis and injuring 11, hospital officials said.

On Sunday, Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi expressed impatience on Fallujah, saying the peace talks on the city was near the end with a gloomy hope for peaceful settlement.

The Iraqi government's "patience is running thin," and "the window for a peaceful settlement is closing," Allawi told a news conference after meeting Fallujah's tribal leaders.

"We have now entered the final phase of attempts to solve Fallujah without a major military confrontation," he said, warningif peaceful efforts fail, he had no choice but "to secure a military solution."

IRAQI PRESIDENT SAYS MILITARY SOLUTION USABLE TO UPROOT TERRORISM

Iraqi President Ghazi Yawar, who ended his visit to Kuwait on Monday, said military solution would be used to flush out terrorism in violence-ravaged Iraq, Kuwait's official KUNA news agency reported Monday.

"I think the real solution is to re-qualify the Iraqi security forces ... without such forces there will be no other solution forthe security dilemma in Iraq," Yawar said while meeting with editors-in-chief of the Kuwaiti media on Sunday.

"That requires recruiting big numbers of unemployed youths and it takes time," the president added.

Yawar said a coalition of loyalists to the deposed Iraqi government, radical groups, agents recruited by foreign intelligence agencies and other networks were behind the terror acts against Iraqis and foreigners in the country.

"There are views which say that trouble-making elements should be re-assimilated into the political process (in Iraq) and I wonder how we can reconcile with a person who kills humans like sheep, who calls for the return of the deposed regime, and who does not believe in change," he said.

Yawar said he was coordinating efforts with the defense minister to resolve the issue in the rebel-held city of Fallujah through negotiations, but the efforts went in vain.

Yawar's three-day visit to Kuwait was the first of its kind after Kuwait was invaded by former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's troops in August 1990.

Source: Xinhua