Britain today welcomed the appointment of a new top United Nations envoy to Iraq.

Bowing to intense pressure, Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari agreed to allow Shiite politicians to find someone else to head the new government, abandoning his claim on another term in the face of Sunni and Kurdish opposition.

IRAQI Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari, under intense pressure to give up plans for a second term, agreed yesterday to let Shi’ite lawmakers reconsider his nomination, a step that could mark a breakthrough in the months-long effort to form a new government.

Insurgents targeted Iraqi security forces today in Baghdad, gunning down a neighbourhood police chief and hitting a patrol with a roadside bomb in attacks that left three people dead and at least five injured.