Iraq's new leader called for a halt to attacks on foreign troops yesterday as a roadside bomb killed an American soldier and wounded three others in the second fatal attack on US forces in the capital in as many days.

Iraq's new leader called for a halt to attacks on foreign troops yesterday as a roadside bomb killed an American soldier and wounded three others in the second fatal attack on US forces in the capital in as many days.

Troops blocked off the blast sitein east Baghdad. An attack in the same area on Friday killed five Americans and wounded five others.

Iyad Allawi, Iraq's new Prime Minister, whose administration will take sovereignty after 30 June, called, in his first televised address to the nation, for a halt to attacks on Americans and other foreign soldiers, saying their presence would be needed to help the sovereign leadership improve security.

"The targeting of the multinational forces under the leadership of the United States to force them to leave Iraq would inflict a major disaster on Iraq, especially before the completion of the building of security and military institutions," Mr Allawi said.

Violence seemed to be abating around Najaf and Kufa, two months after the radical Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr launched an uprising in the south. Under a deal between Shia leaders and Mr Sadr, his Mehdi Army militia is to pull back from the Islamic shrines in the twin cities, said Najaf's governor, Adnan al-Zurufi.

US forces also agreed to stay away from the Imam Ali shrine in Najaf and the Kufa mosque where Mr Sadr preaches to give Iraqi security a chance to end the standoff.