British soldier dies in Iraq

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: The British Defense Ministry said that one of its soldiers died of wounds he sustained on Thursday in southern Iraq. “A British soldier serving with 9 Regiment Army Air Corps has died on Thursday 4 December 2008, in southern Iraq,” said a statement of the defense ministry.“Immediate medical assistance was provided, but sadly the soldier was declared dead at the scene,” it added. The death raises the British fatalities in Iraq to 177 since the beginning of military operations in March 2003. Britain has 4,100 soldiers deployed in Basra within the Multi-National Forces after it withdrew from the former presidential palaces base in September 2007. SH (P) 1