US plans to beef up force

Lieutenant General Lance Smith, deputy commander of the US Central Command, said additional troops may also be deployed from the United States if necessary to secure the country before the vote.

Smith said the number of troops would depend on the situation following the US-led assault to retake Fallujah but it will be "probably an additional brigade's worth of forces."

"We are talking mainly about extending some units," he told reporters at a press conference here. "We will make further assessment as we get a little bit closer and understand what the impact of Fallujah has been in the entire country."

"The issue by the way is not just numbers. The issue is really about experienced troops during this period of time of expected increased violence."

The US offensive in Fallujah set off a wave of insurgent attacks elsewhere in the Sunni Arab heartland north and west of Baghdad, as well as in the Iraqi capital.

The top Marine commander, Lieutenant General John Sattler, said Thursday the assault on Fallujah has "broken the back of the insurgency," but Smith said it was still too early to make that claim.

AP adds: At least six Nato allies are refusing to send military instructors to help the United States train Iraqi officers, another impediment in the US' drive for support for its effort to pacify Iraq.

The six nations Germany, France, Belgium, Spain, Luxe-mbourg and Greece had refused to contribute troops to the US-led coalition that overthrew President Saddam Hussein and to the post-war campaign against insurgents.

The US administration was hoping to forge a consensus on post-war peacemaking. The project to train Iraqi officers will not involve combat duties and is part of a broader security programme.

A State Department official close to the dispute said on Friday that all the 26 Nato allies voted on Wednesday at alliance headquarters in Brussels for the training programme and agreed to help fund it.