BRIT DIES AS U.S. BEGINS ASSAULT: GRIN OF TERROR; Suicide car bombing by smiling white man.

Byline: DON MACKAY 

GRINNING suicide bombers are attacking Black Watch soldiers in Iraq, it was revealed last night.

Their broad smiles are designed to fool troops into thinking they are harmless, said Army chiefs.

They killed three men of the regiment last week and seriously injured two bomb disposal experts on Sunday.

And the suicide driver who led the first attack was a white European, not an Iraqi, said survivors.

The revelations came as a fourth Black Watch soldier was killed yesterday by a roadside bomb.

Two more were injured, one seriously, in the blast north of the regiment's Camp Dogwood base in the "triangle of death".

One is thought to be a Fijian recruit to the Scots regiment.

The Defence Ministry would not name the victims until relatives were told.

Last week Sergeant Stuart Gray, 31, and Privates Paul Lowe, 19, and Scott McArdle, 22, and an Iraqi interpreter died as they manned a roadblock.

A senior military source in Iraq said: "The bomber was Caucasian. That means he could be from anywhere between Bosnia and Birmingham.

"We don't know any more because there wasn't much left of him. But it confirms our fears that the Black Watch are up against foreign terrorists."

Bomb experts Cpl Neil Heritage and Cpl Michael Brennan were last night being treated in a military hospital in Germany after being flown from Iraq.

One had his legs blown off and the other had serious leg injuries when a bomber drove up to them.

The senior source added that in both attacks "the bombers drove slowly and were very relaxed and assured. How they could commit such a cold blooded act in that manner is hard to comprehend."

Terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, whose group murdered kidnapped Briton Ken Bigley, claimed responsibility for the three deaths.

On Sunday the group put a video of the attack on a website, claiming to show rebels stamping on body parts.

Black Watch Sgt Barry Robertson, 34, said last night: "It's disgusting and cowardly. This video shows them up for the animals they are.

"It has just hardened our resolve. Things like that make you want to go out and get the job done even more.

"If they want to put suicide bombs out like that, OK, but we'll still beat them.

"We are the British Army and it's not going to stop us one little bit."

Meanwhile Camp Dogwood came under rocket attack. And Black Watch B Company was mortared three times at a new forward base near Fallujah. There were no casualties.

Former Black Watch officer Robb Scott - whose 18-year-old grandson Charles is serving in Iraq - called for "the gloves to come off".

Robb, 61, of Methil, Fife, said: "It's about time they decided that if someone looks like a suspect, the boys frame them and take them down."

Lib Dem defence spokesman Paul Keetch called on Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon to make an urgent Commons statement about troops' role in Iraq.

CAPTION(S):

BLAST: Black Watch Warrior; DIGGING IN: Troops from the Black Watch build defence trenches yesterday