BAGHDAD - British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, becoming the first leader of the US-led coalition that toppled former president Saddam Hussein to visit the country. But his arrival was overshadowed by the shooting death of a US soldier amid growing signs of Iraqi resistance. Blair traveled aboard a C-130 Hercules transport plane from Kuwait City and immediately began talks with top civilian and military officials. He was due to meet with both Paul Bremer, the head of the US civil administration, and John Sawers, the chief British envoy. He was also to greet Iraqi children at a local school before heading to one of Saddam's abandoned palaces on the outskirts of Basra to make a rallying speech to British troops. He was then to take a helicopter to nearby Umm Qasar to board a British mine sweeper moored at the Gulf port. "I want to see the British troops to thank them for their magnificent performance during the Gulf conflict," Blair said en route to Kuwait. Blair's visit to Iraq came on a fourth successive day of guerrilla-style attacks targeting US troops in the country. A US soldier was shot dead "by hostile fire while traveling on a main supply route in Iraq," the US Central Command said. That brought to 20 the number of US soldiers who have died in fighting or accidents in Iraq since May 1, the day US President George W. Bush declared the war effectively over. "The soldier was evacuated to 21st Combat Support Hospital where he was pronounced dead," Centcom said, adding that his name and unit were being withheld pending next-of-kin notification. Back home, Blair's former foreign secretary Robin Cook demanded an inquiry after Washington acknowledged Iraqi forces may have destroyed the country's alleged weapons of mass destruction before war broke out. "If (US Defense Secretary) Donald Rumsfeld is now admitting the weapons are not there, the truth is the weapons probably haven't been there for quite a long time," Cook, who resigned from the government over the war, told the BBC. **Cook demands WMD inquiry*** Cook's appeal came as London and Washington appeared to be sending mixed messages on Iraq's alleged chemical and biological weapons, on which Britain, the United States and Spain pinned their case for war. Asked why the weapons were not used, Rumsfeld said Tuesday that the Iraqis may have been caught off-guard by the speed of the US assault. "It is also possible that they decided they would destroy them, prior to a conflict. I don't know the answer," he told the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. On Wednesday, a US military spokesman said nine more soldiers were wounded in Iraq in the previous 24 hours, but none of their injuries was serious. "There are still elements of the former regime who are trying to disrupt our efforts to rebuild Iraq, whether paramilitary or former members of the Baath party," said US Army Captain David Connolly. **PHOTO CAPTION*** British Prime Minister Tony Blair arriving at Kuwait's International Airport. (AFP/KUNA)