British soldier killed by Basra bomb

LONDON - A British soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq late on Tuesday night, the Ministry of Defence said.

A ministry spokesman told Reuters he had died in Basra "as a result of injuries sustained from a roadside bomb at 2323 local time. We will be revealing more details once next of kin have been informed."

This brings brings the British death toll in Iraq to 97. Of those, 64 died as result of hostile action. Britain has more than 8,000 troops in southern Iraq.

Britain and the United States have accused Iran or the Tehran-backed Lebanese group Hizbollah of providing military expertise to Iraqi insurgents behind attacks on British troops.

Iran denies meddling in Iraq and says the accusations against it are psychological warfare tied to efforts by Washington and London to report Tehran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions over its nuclear programme.

- REUTERS