Briton Dies, U.S. Troops Hurt in Iraq

A British soldier was killed when a mob attacked his convoy in southern Iraq, and four U.S. soldiers were wounded when an improvised bomb exploded in Fallouja, officials said Thursday.

South of Baghdad in the town of Ali ash Sharqi, a British soldier was killed and a second was wounded when angry Iraqis trapped their convoy Wednesday evening and fired on them, the British military said. The death brought British fatalities in the war to about 50.

In Fallouja, west of Baghdad, hundreds of locals marched after the attack on U.S. soldiers, chanting slogans praising ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and denouncing President Bush. U.S. soldiers sealed off and searched part of the town, which is located in a mainly Sunni Muslim region.

Local people said a U.S. military vehicle had been damaged by the bomb.

Demonstrators praising the attack shouted, “Down, down with Bush!” and, “We will protect you, Saddam!” They waved a large scrap of desert-colored cloth, charred around the edges, which they said came from the clothes of one of the casualties.

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin called Thursday for a United Nations-run force, arguing that merely increasing troops under U.S. and British control would not be enough.

“It does not suffice to deploy more troops, more technical and financial means,” De Villepin told French ambassadors gathered in Paris. “We need a real change in approach.”