Bush agrees to new troop cuts in Iraq

President George Bush has authorised new cuts in US combat troops in Iraq, below the 138,000 level that prevailed for most of this year, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said today.

Addressing US troops at the former insurgent stronghold of Fallujah, Rumsfeld did not reveal the exact size of the troop cut, but Pentagon officials have said it could be as much as 7,000 combat troops.