US military to launch assault on Iraq militants

Iraqi forces backed by US troops will begin an assault on militants in Baghdad this weekend as a first step in the new White House strategy to contain Sunni insurgents and Shiite death squads, key advisers to the Iraq prime minister said.

The first details of the new plan to pacify the capital emerged yesterday, a day after US President George Bush and prime minister Nouri al-Maliki spoke for nearly two hours by video conference.