"Coalition forces will pay 500 dollars for every shoulder-fired weapon that is an air defense missile turned in to us," Colonel David Teeples told the opening session of the new 44-member provincial governing council in Ramadi, the provincial capital of Al-Anbar.

The full payout will be made for fully operational launchers, while those which are damaged or unoperational would earn 250 dollars each, he added.

He also pointed to a programme in which tribal leaders are urged to persuade members of their tribes to turn in other weapons including rocket-propelled grenades, rifles and handguns.

"There are still a number of illegal weapons that are in the population," Teeples said.

Captain Michael Calvert confirmed the payment initiative was considered after two incidents in recent weeks in which shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles narrowly missed military aircraft taking off or landing at Baghdad airport.

Al-Anbar includes the towns of Ramadi and Fallujah, both west of the capital Baghdad, in a so-called Sunni triangle known to harbour loyalists of ousted president Saddam Hussein.

US forces in and around the towns have been coming under almost daily attack in the city in July, the bloodiest month since major combat operations were declared over on May 1 by US President George W. Bush.

WAR.WIRE