The United States is beefing up military forces in Iraq to provide security before elections scheduled for January 30, Pentagon officials said on Wednesday.

The Pentagon has decided to bolster American forces in Iraq in advance of elections by sending elements of the 82nd Airborne Division from Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and extending the tours of duty for other units already in Iraq, said Army officials who asked not to be identified.

At least two Army brigades now operating in northern Iraq will have their tours extended by about two months, and a unit of about2,000 Marines will stay longer than planned, the officials said.

Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on Tuesday that commanders in Iraq were studying troop requirements ahead of Iraq's election.

It was reported that the number of troops needed in Iraq is expected to be determined soon.

The United States has now deployed some 138,000 troops in Iraq since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

Iraq is facing serious security problems, especially in the so-called Sunni Triangle area north and west of Baghdad, as well as in the capital itself.

Although the scheduled elections are getting near, voter registration has not yet begun in the more unstable cities such as Fallujah and Ramadi, west of Baghdad.

The US-backed Iraqi authorities have vowed to hold the scheduled elections, but politicians and observers have warned that the planned elections might be postponed if the turmoil in the country continues.

(Xinhua News Agency December 2, 2004)