"In light of the security situation in Baghdad, I have ordered up to approximately 200 additional US Armed Forces personnel to Iraq to reinforce security at the US Embassy, its support facilities, and the Baghdad International Airport," Obama said in a letter to Congress released Monday.

"This force is deploying for the purpose of protecting US citizens and property, if necessary, and is equipped for combat."

The latest deployment which the Pentagon said had arrived in Iraq on Sunday brings the number of US troops and embassy security forces to 800, following the sudden advance of the ISIL terrorists that has left nearly 2,000 people dead this month.

Iraqi forces meanwhile pressed a counter-offensive Monday against executed dictator Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit, one of a string of towns and cities overrun by ISIL terrorists.

An army officer said troops controlled parts of the outskirts of the city, some 160 km (100 miles) north of Baghdad, which the militants captured on June 11.

The conflict has displaced hundreds of thousands and piled pressure on Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki.
World leaders and leading clerics have pressed Iraqi leaders to unite and quickly form a government, but despite the urgency, politicians have warned that the process of choosing a new prime minister could take more than a month.

The terrorist group of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant renamed itself simply the Islamic State and declared its shadowy frontman the leader of the world's Muslims, in a clear challenge to Al-Qaeda for control of the global terrorist movement.

BA/BA