2,200 Us Military Police to Join Iraq 'surge'

The Pentagon is to send an extra 2,200 military police to Iraq to help deal with an anticipated increase in detainees during US forces' latest security crackdown.

The announcement follows the controversial decision by the US president, George Bush, to deploy 21,500 more troops to help the Shia-led government of Nuri al-Maliki.

The increase in military police numbers was requested by the new US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus.

Gen Petraeus said, however, at his first news conference in Baghdad since taking charge of American forces last month, that he saw no immediate need for more US combat troops other than those already announced.

Baghdad has seen encouraging signs of progress despite "sensational attacks", he added, pointing to a fall in sectarian killings and fewer people leaving their homes in recent weeks in the capital.

However, nine US soldiers were killed in two separate roadside bombings this week in spite of a security crackdown by US and Iraqi forces in Baghdad now in its fourth week.

And the increase in American forces has not prevented a spate of attacks in the past three days on Shia pilgrims making their way to the holy city of Kerbala. At least 150 have been killed, including more than 100 outside the capital.

It was "too early to discern significant trends, [but] there have been a few encouraging signs," Gen Petraeus told reporters.

A counter-insurgency expert, Gen Petraeus was picked by Mr Bush in a last attempt to tackle the sectarian violence in Baghdad which is threatening to rip the country apart.

Gen Petraeus denounced the recent wave of sectarian attacks, including the "thugs with no soul" responsible for the attacks on Shia pilgrims.

He said that "we share the horror" of witnessing the suicide bombings and shootings against the pilgrims, who are heading for a religious commemoration beginning tomorrow in Kerbala, about 50 miles south of Baghdad.

The attacks - mostly blamed on Sunni insurgents - are seen as attempts to provoke a civil war with Shia militia.

Gen Petraeus said it was "critical" for leaders to halt any drift toward sectarian conflict and said US forces are ready to help provide additional security for the pilgrims if asked by Iraqi authorities.

But he saw no role for the Shia militia known as the Mahdi army, whose fighters guarded pilgrims in the past two years.

He said "extremist elements" in the militia have been engaged in "true excesses" in the past - a reference to suspected gangs killing Sunnis.