PHILADELPHIA, July 2: The US administrator in Iraq is asking for more American troops and civilians to speed restoration of order and public services, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported on Wednesday, but a Pentagon official denied the report.

The newspaper, quoting unnamed US officials, said USSecretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld was reviewing a request submitted by Paul Bremer amid escalating anti-American sentiment and attacks on US forces.

A senior Pentagon official denied that Mr Bremer had asked for more troops to restore order and stem attacks. But he also said Gen John Abizaid, who will take charge of the US Central Command next week, was studying whether to add forces, reposition them or use different types of troops.

“There has been no such request.” the official said. “There are still remnants that are going to try to do harm to our forces. And there are still going to be casualties. The other side is if you put more troops in, you put more targets in there.”

There are currently about 146,000 US troops in Iraq and about 12,000 British and other allied soldiers. The official noted that more than 30 other countries had either already committed or promised additional forces to help stabilize Iraq. He did not specify the numbers promised.—Reuters