An Iraqi government spokesman Friday admitted in Washington his government has no firm handle on how many of his countrymen have been killed in the war.

During a White House press briefing, Ali al-Dabbagh noted 3 million died during Saddam Hussein's regime. Asked how many had died since Saddam was toppled, al-Dabbagh responded: "I feel that we don't have that figure exactly but I guess that is exceeding 50,000 ... (have) been killed by the terrorist groups." He said, however, the level of violence is falling.

Estimates outside the Iraqi government have ranged near 100,000.