We have enough troops in Iraq: US

But he added that further international troop contributions would be welcomed as ‘‘there were security issues looming out there in the future’’ that could pose a threat.

He said this included the prospect of further terrorist attacks, problems associated with border control and the potential for trouble to erupt among militias inside Iraq.

Sanchez added any multinational force should serve under US command although this was subject to negotiations between Washington and the United Nations.

‘‘It is essential, I believe for a US commander to remain in control since we’re the ones who have the continuity at this point in time and this has been a US-led effort up to this point. If there is to be a change in the lead nation — that is a decision that would have to be made in Washington.’’

He added that US forces had suffered three killed in action, 49 wounded and further four non-hostile deaths in the past week.

Meanwhile, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld travelled to the Gulf region for what he called a ‘‘first hand sense’’ of developments in Iraq while US troops battled Iraqi guerrillas in Saddam Hussein’s hometown.

‘‘I haven’t been back into Iraq or Afghanistan I guess since last…April or May and it seemed to me that it was important to have an opportunity to get a first hand sense of how things are going,’’ Rumsfeld said. In a reminder of the daily dangers troops face in Iraq, US troops fought Iraqi guerrillas who fired mortars near their base, then raided homes to detain suspected bomb-makers in a night of drama around Saddam’s hometown of Tikrit. Iraqis then fired rocket-propelled grenades on a patrol.

American soldiers responded by firing machineguns and grenade-launchers, and lit the sky with tracers. ‘‘We’ve responded fast and effectively to an attack, then we’ve found these bomb-makers who were producing explosives used against our troops,’’ Colonel James Hickey, a senior commander in the area said. The US went to the UN on Wednesday to seek help with troops and money for Iraq, but said it would not give up command of military operations or its dominant role in the country.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell said the draft resolution envisaged a multinational force under US Command, the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council in Baghdad mapping out Iraq’s political future and the UN having an expanded role in reconstruction. ‘‘We are asking the international community to join us,’’ Powell said in Washington.

‘‘The US will remain commander… Certainly the US will continue to play a dominant role…because of the size of the US force presence and the leadership we are providing. But there are many roles to be played,’’ Powell said.

He discussed the draft with close ally Britain, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan and three heavyweight Security Council countries that opposed the war that toppled former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein — France, Russia and Germany. (Reuters)