Finally 850 British troops are directed to move to Baghdad according to Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon.

He said, "The Government has decided that we should accept the US request for assistance," Mr Hoon said yesterday. "A UK armoured battlegroup consisting of the 1st Battalion the Black Watch and supporting units will ... relieve a US unit for other tasks."

This request was first declined and later on the US was intimated that it could be possible for the UK to send some troops only after elections. But soon thereafter Tony Blair decided to send the troops as requested by the US. However, the troops would be deployed for weeks and not months.

A Sunni group representing mosques in Iraq threatened that they would boycott the elections to be held in January if the US and the interim government continued attackin Falluja.

They issued a statement read out by Umm al-Qura mosque in Baghdad on Wednesday, who is preacher with the Association of Muslim Scholars. He claimed that his association represented more than 3000 Sunni mosques and made an appeal to Arab and Islamic nations to condemn the attack on Falluja and sought support for the resistance of US forces.

Mr. Hoon’s announcement came after considering the statement issued by the Sunni faction.