British troops to assist US in hostile zone

8.15am

Britain has agreed to redeploy some 850 troops from their relatively safe base in south Iraq to a more hostile area near Baghdad to relieve US troops.

Defence Minister Geoff Hoon said the redeployment, made at the request of the US military, would last "weeks rather than months". The move has provoked widespread anger at home.

Hoon said the troop movement was to help boost security for Iraqi elections due in January.

"The government has decided that we should accept the US request for assistance," he told parliament.

"This deployment is a vital part of the process of creating the right conditions for the Iraqi elections to take place."

Some critics have accused British Prime Minister Tony Blair of trying to help President George W. Bush's re-election bid.

A senior Bush administration official called that idea "preposterous". "It is clearly a request made by military commanders based on military needs," said the official, who asked not to be named.

Hoon gave no precise details about when the forces would move or to where, but he said they would remain under the operational command of British military chiefs, not Americans.

Officials said the force would be deployed to the west of Baghdad, an area that has seen some of the most intense fighting in Iraq. US marines are now operating in the area.

Underlining the dangers of that region, a bus carrying Iraqis who work at Baghdad airport was attacked as it drove on the main highway west from the city on Thursday morning.

Security sources said gunmen in two cars forced the bus to a halt before an assailant threw two hand grenades inside. Three gunmen then fired assault rifles at the vehicle.

The sources said four people were killed and at least 11 wounded in the attack.

"The bus was riddled with bullet holes. There was broken glass everywhere," said an airport employee who asked not to be named. She said most of the passengers were office workers. An official at Iraqi Airways said many of them were women and confirmed at least one woman was killed, by a shot to the head.

Insurgents have previously attacked buses taking people to work at US-run bases, but Thursday's assault appeared to target people only very loosely associated with the Americans.

Baghdad's airport, formerly a huge military base, now has next to no US presence and is protected by an independent British contractor. Thousands of Iraqis work there, mostly for the relaunched Iraqi Airways or for cargo companies.

- REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq