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— BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's information minister said on Monday that 62 Iraqis had been killed by U.S.-led forces in the previous 24 hours and more than 400 had been wounded.

Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf gave the figures at a news conference, breaking them down by city. In Baghdad, 194 people had been wounded in bombing but none had been killed. The most deaths were 30 in Babel, south of Baghdad, and 14 in Basra.

He said there were also deaths and injuries in the southern towns of Najaf and Kerbala, in the southern province Qadisiya and in the northern provinces of Ninawa and Salah ad Din.

"They insist to strike civilian areas in a criminal manner and those evil people believe that by expanding their war crimes they can weaken us. They are not only criminals, but idiots, for believing that," Sahaf said.

The United States and Britain launched war on Iraq on Thursday to overthrow President Saddam Hussein for his alleged weapons of mass destruction. Baghdad denies it has such arms.

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