Ramadi, December 27, 2004 - INSURGENTS shot dead five men in the restive Iraqi city of Ramadi overnight and left their corpses in the street with a handwritten note identifying them as police, witnesses said.

Residents said they found the bodies this morning. Reuters television footage showed them lying in jeans and sweaters in the centre of the western city that is a hotbed of insurgent activity against the US-backed government.

"This is a group of infidel police officers who came from Diyala province to pursue and capture mujahideen," read a lined piece of paper, secured to one of the bodies with a brick.

"We were able with God's help to hunt them down."

At least one of the dead men had his hands tied behind his back. Residents said they heard them being shot during the night. The note named each of the dead men. It was not immediately possible to confirm if they were police officers.

Diyala province is northeast of Baghdad. Ramadi is in Anbar province, to the west of the capital and of the former rebel bastion of Fallujah, now largely emptied and held by US troops.

Iraq's fledgling security forces have borne the brunt of attacks by insurgents bent on undermining the American-backed government and expelling US forces from the country.

The US assault on Fallujah was intended to quell violence ahead of Iraq's January 30 election. But US and Iraqi officials have since said Anbar province is not ready for a poll.

Reuters