US forces find rebel bunker bigger than four football pitches in Iraq

Baghdad, Sunday (AFP)

US forces said Sunday they have discovered an "insurgent lair" in Iraq's restive Al-Anbar province, including a bunker system the size of four football pitches and dozens of weapons caches.

Meanwhile, a Muslim cleric said he had met an ailing Australian contractor who has been held hostage for weeks in Iraq by militants.

The US military announced the discovery of the bunkers dug into an abandoned quarry near Karmah, west of the capital, along with 50 weapons caches unearthed in the last 72 hours.

The whole complex was 170 metres (yards) wide and 275 metres long or bigger than four football pitches, it said, and fresh food inside showed the hideout had been recently inhabited.

Fully furnished living spaces were found in the warren, along with a kitchen, showers and an air conditioner, hi-tech combat equipment such as night vision goggles and a large haul of weapons and ammunition.

"Coalition forces and ISF (Iraqi security forces) found numerous types of machine guns, ordnance, including mortars, rockets and artillery rounds, black uniforms, ski masks, compasses, log books, night vision goggles, and fully charged cell phones," it said.

Marines were sifting through the site in search of intelligence after which the arms and ammunition were to be destroyed.