A British soldier died in Iraq today as a result of an indirect fire attack on Basra Palace, the British Ministry of Defence said.

Suicide bombings have killed nearly 50 people and wounded dozens in two Iraqi villages, including a large truck bombing today that ripped through an outdoor market and buried victims in rubble, officials said.

Efforts are continuing today to secure the release of 15 Royal Navy sailors and Royal Marines seized by Iranian patrol boats off the coast of Iraq.

PRINCE Harry, third in line to the British throne, is getting his wish to serve in Iraq.

BRITAIN will withdraw around 1,600 troops from Iraq in the “coming months”, aiming to cut its force to below 5,000 by late summer if Iraqi forces can secure the southern part of the country, Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday.

Seven British soldiers were wounded today in Basra, five in a car crash and two in a rocket attack, a military spokeswoman said.

A rocket attack struck a British military base in southern Iraq, wounding six soldiers, a military spokeswoman said today.

An explosion outside a former Saddam Hussein-era palace which is now a British base and which houses a United States consular office killed at least one person and wounded two others, police and witnesses said today.

An explosion outside a former Saddam Hussein-era palace in Basra that houses a US consular office killed at least one person and wounded two others, police and witnesses said.