Iraq has requested the UN Security Council to let the US-led multinational forces remain amid new offensives launched by US-Iraqi troops against insurgents on Wednesday.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zibari made the request in a letter to Security Council president for May, Danish Ambassador to the UN Ellen Loj. The letter, dated Tuesday, was circulated to the council on Wednesday.

"As we stand now, our country continues to face an armed insurgency, which still includes foreign elements opposed to Iraq's transition to democratic rule," Zibari said in the letter.

"Despite continuing efforts to build up our security forces, these forces cannot as yet assume full responsibility for maintaining our national security and defending our borders," he wrote.

Iraq will complete its political transition process by the end of the year when new elections are held in line with a new constitution. Resolution 1546 adopted by the council on June 8, 2004 authorized the US-led multinational forces to stay in Iraq after the handover of power to Iraq by the US-British coalition. But the resolution also stipulated that the council will review the mandate of the forces within 12 months or at an earlier date at the request of the Iraqi side.

The council is scheduled to hold an open meeting next week to discuss the mandate of the multinational forces, which Zibari is expected to attend.

US-IRAQI TROOPS LAUNCH NEW OFFENSIVE AGAINST INSURGENTS

Hundreds of US and Iraqi soldiers on Wednesday backed by aircraft swept Iraq's western town of Haditha in search of militants, killing eight people, the US military and witnesses said.

US and Iraqi troops launched the new offensive dubbed "Operation New Market" on Haditha, some 200 km northwest of Baghdad,the military said in a statement.

The operation was "focused on disrupting insurgent activity" asinsurgency has recently increased in the area, it said.

"Sporadic clashes continued in the town and US-Iraqi soldiers searched homes looking for weapons and asking people if they know any insurgents," a local resident, Ghassan al-Juaani told Xinhua.

"Eight people were killed in the clashes, including three children and an Imam of al-Saif mosque in the town and their bodies were still lying on the street as the US forces imposed a curfew on the town," Juaani said.

"The Imam was killed by sniper bullet early in the morning as he left his home for prayer in the mosque, and the three children were killed as they were heading to their school," he said.

The US troops pounded a mosque in Haditha's Askari district, wounding five people, said Juaani.

They also pounded a house in the Jghaifa district, wounding four and destroying the house," Juaani said.

"The US soldiers are surrounding Haditha Hospital, preventing it from receiving any wounded people," a doctor named Walid al-Hadithi told Xinhua.

Several people were detained by the soldiers, residents said. But the US military had no immediate words on their detention.

Haditha is situated on the bank of the Euphrates river and has long been a bastion of insurgency against the US troops in Iraq.

IRAQ URGES SYRIA TO STOP INFILTRATION

Zibari on Wednesday urged Syria to stop foreign fighters from infiltrating into Iraq.

"It is important to establish security cooperation and find outa mechanism for security cooperation, as we believe that many foreign fighters infiltrated into Iraq to carry out terrorist attacks against innocent people," Zibari said at a joint press conference with his Italian counterpart Gianfranco Fini.

"There is a responsibility on the Syrian government to halt theflow of terrorists into Iraq," Zibari said.

Iraq and the United States have mounted pressure on Syria to stop foreign fighters from infiltrating into Iraq along the 500-km-long Iraq-Syria border. Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said last week that he would soon visit Syria over the border infiltration issue.

Source: Xinhua