British flagship sets sail for Gulf

10.05am

PORTSMOUTH - The British Navy's flagship, the aircraft carrier Ark Royal, has set sail for possible war in Iraq at the head of the nation's largest amphibious task force deployed since the 1982 Falklands War.

As thousands of flag-waving relatives and wellwishers packed the quayside, the carrier steamed out Portsmouth harbour in chilly sunshine shortly after noon.

"I'm proud of him but still wish he wasn't in there," Felicity Devine, whose 26-year-old son Brad works on the Ark Royal's communications, said. "I know that God is in control and he'll be in my prayers."

Sailors assembled on deck waved white caps over their heads as the ship headed out to sea.

Devine and her husband unfurled a banner with their son's name. She wiped away tears but stood firm, while another crewmate's mother stood next to her shaking with sobs.

"You have to give them a bit of moral support," said pensioner Rosemary Watts who drove two hours with her husband to see the ship leave even though she had no relatives on board.

Ark Royal will lead a 16-ship flotilla, officially sailing for long-planned naval exercises in the Far East.

Officials say they have dramatically upgraded the force beyond its original mission in case it is needed in Iraq, adding two battalions of elite Royal Marine commandos capable of deploying by helicopter.

In all, 5,000 sailors and 3,000 Marines will sail first to the Mediterranean and then on through the Suez Canal. They are due to visit ports in the Gulf in April but could deploy there earlier if necessary.

Ark Royal's flight deck was cleared of fixed wing aircraft to make room for troop-carrying helicopters to transport the Marines. A second helicopter carrier, HMS Ocean, will join the task force around the end of January.

Public opinion is still lukewarm at best toward the prospect of war in Iraq, and the government has been cautious about announcing deployment plans.

But since the New Year, the government has begun committing the bulk of the forces it would send to a war on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

In addition to the large seaborne strike force of Marines on board Ark Royal and Ocean, Britain is expected to send to the Gulf region most of its main ground force, the army's First Armoured Division, from its bases in Germany.

London has already hired cargo ships to carry the division's armour, and has called up an initial 1,500 reservists, mainly medical personnel.

As the ships set sail in Portsmouth, hundreds of anti-war activists gathered in a London hall to voice their opposition to military action in the Gulf and to plan future protests.

"Hundreds of MPs would oppose military action in Iraq with no recourse to the United Nations," Labour MP George Galloway told Reuters.

He and other anti-war Labour "rebels" were speaking at Saturday's meeting alongside some foreign personalities including former Algerian President Ahmed Ben Bella.

The Stop the War Coalition, which organised Saturday's meeting, said about half a million protesters would engulf London on February 15 along with 10 million across Europe, America and the Middle East.

- REUTERS

Herald feature: Iraq