US plans more troops in south if Britons quit

Dubai: The United States is getting ready to move thousands of troops into southern Iraq amid fears that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is committed to withdrawing British troops early next year.

The White House and the Pentagon are said to have chalked out plans to secure the vital link road between Baghdad and Kuwait when the British leave.

The US military on Sunday said five American soldiers were killed in fighting around Baghdad, four of whom died when a house rigged with explosives blew up outside the Iraqi capital. They were all killed on Saturday.

The fifth soldier was killed by small arms fire while on foot patrol southeast of the capital. At least 29 American soldiers have now died in Iraq in August.