A female US soldier was killed and three other soldiers were wounded by a bomb blast in Iraq in a day marked by violent protests between jobless Iraqis and police. Another US soldier was shot dead late Wednesday while on patrol in Baghdad's al-Mansour district, the U.S. command said. Also a soldier from the 4th Infantry Division died following a rocket-propelled grenade attack on an American convoy Wednesday near Samara, about 60 miles north of the Iraqi capital, according to the military. Meanwhile, Jalal Talabani, a leading member of Iraq's governing council, was quoted as saying on Wednesday that Saddam Hussein was reportedly seen in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk five days ago and is moving in increasingly smaller circles in order to evade capture. Talabani, who also heads the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, one of two main groups controlling the Kurdish north of the country, told The Guardian newspaper that he had received unconfirmed reports that the ousted Iraqi leader had sheltered last weekend among a Sunni Arab community on the outskirts of Kirkuk. He said: "Saddam has good relations with those Arabs whom he brought to Kirkuk to ethnically cleanse the city of Kurds and Turkomens." Saddam had been moving between the Hawija area and the Kirkuk plain, sheltering among Sunni Arab tribespeople and Ba'ath loyalists who had gone to ground there after the collapse of the regime, Talabani added. An officer with US forces stationed in Kirkuk told the British daily he was aware of the reported sighting but declined further speculation. "There have been many reports of Saddam around central Iraq. Some are plausible, others plainly not. We are conducting an ongoing operation for anyone, including the former leader, who presents a danger to stability in the country," he said. **Protests*** Earlier on Wednesday, a protest by hundreds of unemployed Iraqis in central Baghdad descended into violence. One person was injured and two vehicles, including a police car, were set ablaze after the demonstrators protested outside the Vital Enterprises Protection Bureau on Wednesday, Aljazeera's correspondent said. As the protest turned violent and the demonstrators threw stones, Iraqi police officers fired automatic rifles and pistols to break up the crowd. One person was subsequently injured though exact details were not immediately clear. The protesters had apparently come to a recruitment office for a US-backed local force that provides guards for state property. But the demonstrators became frustrated after being told week after week there were no jobs available. The US-installed regime has struggled to revive the moribund Iraqi economy and unemployment is extremely high across the once-thriving country. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Iraqi men hurl stones and burn cars as a group of unemployed men demonstrating for jobs stormed a police station in downtown Baghdad Wednesday Oct. 1, 2003. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)