UK agrees to move troops

US military chiefs asked British forces to move to volatile areas near Baghdad to free up American troops to tackle hotspots like Falluja before the planned elections.

‘‘We share … a common goal of creating a secure and stable Iraq where men, women and children in towns like Falluja can feel safe from foreign terrorists,’’ Hoon said. The White House on Thursday welcomed a planned British troop deployment near to Baghdad and said it will help bring stability to the country.

‘‘The British, like the other 30 nations who are contributing troops, are making tremendous sacrifices to help the Iraqi people build a free and peaceful future,’’ said White House spokesman Scott McClellan, on a campaign swing to Pennsylvania with President George W. Bush.

‘‘Coalition forces are there to partner with the interim government to continue to address the ongoing security challenges in the country,’’ McClellan said.

Rebels fired several mortar rounds in Iraq’s Mosul on Thursday in an attack possibly aimed at visiting interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi.

Journalists accompanying Allawi heard about five blasts as the Prime Minister’s party was about to leave the city. Moments later a small blaze and plume of black smoke could be seen from the helicopters taking his entourage away.

Gunmen fired on a bus carrying workers to Baghdad airport on Thursday, killing four people and wounding 11 in a brazen assault on Iraqis helping to revive a vital link in the country’s reconstruction.

Security sources said two cars of armed men stopped the busas it was driving on the highway to the airport, on the western outskirts of the capital, shortly after 7 am.

In the attack, one assailant threw at least two hand grenades into the packed bus and then three gunmen opened fire on the vehicle from outside, strafing it with bullets in a well-planned attack, the British security sources said.

— Reuters