Those missing include Maher Dakel, the lay pastor; his wife, Mona, who leads the women's section of the church; their son Yeheya; the church's pianist and music director, Firas Raad; the deputy lay pastor; and their driver, whose name has not been disclosed.

Canon White last heard news of the five on September 13, when he was told that they had been attacked the day before while returning from Jordan on the notoriously dangerous road between Ramadi and Fallujah.

"It is the most dangerous area in Iraq," he said. "One of two things must have happened. They either got kidnapped or they died. But we have had no ransom demand or anything."

He said other members of the church had been convinced they had been taken to hospital by the Americans, which was one reason they had not released the news for so long. But repeated checks with the US forces and the Pentagon had drawn a blank.

The loss brings to 12 the number of Iraqis that Canon White has lost in his reconciliation work in Iraq, although these are the first connected to the church. He did not think they were targeted because they were Anglicans.

"The fact is that attacks on people on that road happen all the time, particularly on people who appear to be richer or middle class."

Canon White, until recently the Archbishop of Canterbury's representative to the Middle East, and who helped reopen St George's in Baghdad after the Iraqi war in 2003, said: "We are all devastated. This is the very core of our Anglican Church in Iraq. With such a large congregation of about 800 strong, losing key leadership will be devastating."

Though none of the congregation is traditionally Anglican, the church now has one of the largest congregations in Baghdad.

The Right Rev Colin Bennetts, Bishop of Coventry, said: "I find this news particularly sad and poignant. When we first visited Iraq in 1999 it was my privilege to preach at the re-opening of St George's Church in the centre of Baghdad. We all saw this as a sign of hope and a new beginning under the desperate and despotic regime of Saddam.

"Since that time the church has grown from a handful of worshippers to a congregation of hundreds. For them to lose their leadership in this way is a sad and terrible blow. I urge Christians everywhere to continue to pray for the Church in Iraq in these even more troublesome times."

News of the tragedy was released as the insurgency passed another grim milestone, sending its first female suicide bomber into action. The woman wore men's robes to hide the explosives, which were studded with metal balls to cause more injuries. She blew herself up today outside an army recruiting centre, killing at least seven people and wounding 37.

The incident happened in Tal Afar, 420km (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad - scene of a joint US and Iraqi offensive against the militants two weeks ago in which 200 were killed and 315 captured.

The attack prompted Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the leader of al-Qaeda in Iraq and the de facto head of the insurgency, to declare all-out war on Iraq's Shia population, hoping to trigger a civil war that would out drive the Americans and the British.

The US army hailed the Tal Afar operation as a success, saying the town had been brought back under control. But local people say that after the offensive when the soldiers left the insurgents returned, some creeping back through a network of tunnels.

Although today's explosion is believed to be the first woman bomber since the fall of Saddam, the former Iraqi president's regime sent two women suicide bombers to blow themselves up at a US checkpoint in April 2003, days before Baghdad fell. Three soldiers were killed in that attack.

The attack was almost identical in planning to an explosion at a recruitment centre in Baqouba yesterday in which 10 people died and 30 were injured.

It has emerged that yesterday a suicide bomber managed to penetrate Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, reaching within a mile of the US embassy before he was intercepted. His vehicle was later detonated safely.

The US army claimed a small success against the militants yesterday, after killing Abdullah Abu Azzam, whom it described as the second in command of al-Qaeda in Iraq and the mastermind of the escalating campaign of suicide bombings.

But the group's press spokesman issued an internet statement, saying that Abu Azzam was a mere footsoldier, leading one of the group's battalions in Baghdad.

END