Iraqi security forces 'won't be ready by June 30'

Iraqi security forces will not be ready to protect the country against insurgents by the June 30 handover of power, the top US administrator said – an assessment aimed at defending the continued heavy presence of US troops even after an Iraqi government takes over.

The unusually blunt comments from Paul Bremer came amid a weekend of new fighting that pushed the death toll for US troops in April to 99, already the record for a single month in Iraq and approaching the number killed during the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein last year.