LONDON, Oct 15: The United States wants Britain to deploy troops in more volatile parts of Iraq, Britain's Channel Four television reported on Friday.

"Ministry of Defence sources have told Channel Four News that the US military has lodged a formal request for our troops to cover forces which are to be re-deployed for a renewed offensive against insurgents in the rebel city of Fallujah," Channel Four said on its website, www.channel4.com.

"It's understood that the commanding officer of the reserve betallion of the Black Watch is looking at a request for some 650 personnel to provide cover for the Americans," it said.

Some 8,000 British troops are currently in Iraq but they are all in the relatively quiet, oil-rich south of the country, with their headquarters in Basra city. Channel Four said its sources had "emphatically denied" that British troops go into either Fallujah or Najaf. They suggested that the soldiers might be sent to Baghdad or other sectors.

"The implication of this is (that) it would mean British forces operating under US command and in areas that have up until now been policed and supervised by the Americans," it said. -AFP