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More than 300,000 Iraqis including 600 Shiite tribal leaders have signed a petition accusing Iran of sowing "disorder" in southern Iraq, a group of shaikhs involved in the campaign said.

The shaikhs showed Reuters two thick bundles of notes which contained original signatures. The shaikhs said more than 300,000 people had signed the pages.

Such a public and organised display of animosity toward neighbouring Shiite Iran is rare in Iraq.

Iranian influence has grown steadily, especially in the predominantly Shiite south, since the US-led invasion toppled Saddam Hussain in 2003.

"More than 300,000 people from the southern provinces condemned the interference of the Iranian regime in Iraq and especially in spreading security disorder in the provinces," the shaikhs said in a statement.

They did not elaborate.

The shaikhs declined to be identified for fear of retribution. They said various groups had been collecting the signatures for six months across southern Iraq. It was not immediately clear what they planned to do with the petition.

Shiites comprise around 60 per cent of Iraq's population, generally put at 26-27 million before the 2003 invasion. "The most poisonous dagger stabbed in us, the Iraqi Shiites, is the (Iranian) regime shamefully exploiting the Shiite sect to implement its evil goals," the statement said.

"They have targeted our national interests and began planning to divide Iraq and to separate the southern provinces from Iraq."

The statement said that besides 600 Shiite tribal leaders, the petition was signed by a number of lawyers, engineers, doctors and university professors.

US wary of pledges

The US military said yesterday Iran must prove over time it is committed to stemming the flow of weapons into Iraq, adding a note of caution after a warming in Washington's tone towards Tehran.

US officials have softened their rhetoric towards Iran this month since US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he understood Iran had given Iraq behind-the-scenes assurances that the flow of weapons would stop.

The US military freed nine Iranians held in Iraq.

"We are thankful for the commitment that Iran has made to reduce the flow of weapons and explosives coming into Iraq,"

Lieutenant-General James Dubik, head of US military efforts to rebuild Iraq's security forces, said yesterday. He added it had made some contribution to cutting violence in Iraq.

But Dubik and US military spokesman Major-General Kevin Bergner said it was impossible to tell exactly how much difference those commitments had made. "It's important here that the commitments that have been made start to see real progress that's statistically significant, that's measurable and that is sustained over time," Bergner said.

Two Britons killed in crash

Two British military personnel were killed in Iraq on Tuesday when their Puma helicopter crashed near Baghdad, the Ministry of Defence said.

"Two other personnel were seriously injured, but are now recovering in hospital. It is too early to speculate on the cause of the crash," the MoD said in a statement yesterday.

Meanwhile in Baghdad, Insurgents killed a US soldier and an Iraqi interpreter in a bomb attack in Baghdad, the US military said.