US troops 'detain dozens in Iraq'

Raids are producing results, the US military says

US troops in Iraq have arrested 41 suspected insurgents during a series of raids, the US military has said.

The detained include Fawaz Khalaf, who the US military say helped foreign fighters enter and leave Iraq.

Coalition forces maintain that most of the suicide bombings in Iraq are carried out by foreigners.

The US military head in Iraq says that, while attacks on US troops declined recently, its forces would be reshaped to better conduct urban warfare.

Civilian casualties

Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez pointed out that Iraqi civilians were suffering in greater numbers as a result of the insurgency.

He said that rebel attacks on US troops had dropped by more than 30% in the past two weeks.

We're moving to a more mobile force, one that has the right blend of light and heavy Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez Who are the bombers?

At present, there are on average 22 attacks a day compared with 35 a day earlier this month.

However, according to statistics compiled by the Associated Press news agency, at least 75 US soldiers have died in Iraq in November - making it the worst month for casualties since the US coalition invaded on 20 March.

A total of 436 US soldiers have died since the start of the war, the Pentagon has said.

They include 299 soldiers killed in combat as well as others who died from other causes, such as accidents.

General Sanchez said that, while al-Qaeda is suspected of being behind many of the attacks, he had no proof of their involvement.

Iraqi spies

He also said that some Iraqi police trained by the Americans appear to have been involved in assaults.

There is concern that civilians working for the US are gathering information on troop movements and high-ranking officers and passing it on to the rebels.

The US says it will not give in to the Iraqi resistance

A more mobile force with a bigger intelligence capability would be better able to face the present challenges, General Sanchez said.

Combat units and heavy armour used during the six-week spring invasion would be replaced with more infantry which would herald in a new phase - Iraqi Freedom II.

"We are in fact going to change the composition of our forces to give us additional infantry... We're moving to a more mobile force, one that has the right blend of light and heavy," he said.

Dutch troops

In another development, the Dutch Government has decided to extend by six months its deployment of more than 1,000 troops in Iraq, the ANP news agency quoted Foreign Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as saying.

"We can't leave now, we have to help Iraq," Mr Scheffer said.

The decision, which still has to be ratified by parliament, would also see 70 soldiers from the Dutch special forces sent to Iraq.