WASHINGTON, April 11: A battalion of the new Iraqi army refused to go to Fallujah earlier this week to support US Marines battling Muslim insurgents for control of the city, The Washington Post reported on Sunday.

Citing senior US army officers in Baghdad, the newspaper said the incident is casting new doubt on US plans to transfer security matters to Iraqi forces. The 620-man 2nd Battalion of the Iraqi Armed Forces refused to fight on Monday after its members were shot at in Baghdad while en route to Fallujah, the newspaper said quoting US Army Maj-Gen Paul Eaton.

The convoy then turned around and returned to the battalion's base in Taji. The paper quotes Eaton as saying members of the battalion insisted that they "did not sign up to fight Iraqis." -AFP