British troops tipped for hotspot

BAGHDAD - British troops may be deployed to one of the most violent flashpoints in Iraq in an operation to help United States troops poised for an assault on the rebel stronghold of Fallujah.

Soldiers from the Black Watch may be deployed to Iskandariyah, south of Baghdad, an area that has seen militants mount sustained attacks on US and Iraqi Government forces, as well as the kidnap and murder of foreigners and Iraqis.

The Americans claim to have "pacified" the area in a military operation after it passed into the hands of insurgents for months.

But it remains highly volatile.

Iskandariyah and the nearby town of Latifiyah are important strategically as a "feeder route" to Fallujah, and US commanders are said to want the British battalion to back up US troops heading to Fallujah to reinforce the 1200 troops already based there.

Geoff Hoon, the Secretary of State for Defence, will brief MPs today on proposals to deploy British troops to the dangerous American-held territory around Baghdad.

But in a "holding statement" he will rule out sending forces into Baghdad or Fallujah and will insist any decision to move troops from the British area of operations in southern Iraq will be taken by commanders on the ground.

In the Commons, Hoon will repeat the rejections by Cabinet ministers of allegations that British troop movements are being considered as a show of coalition solidarity with US President George W. Bush ahead of next month's elections in the US.

The Guardian quoted an unnamed British defence source saying that "there is unease about us being drawn in to the whole American election thing".

Labour Party general election supremo Alan Milburn said: "The allegation ... is being made that somehow or other this is about Britain acting in American political interests. It isn't about that at all.

"All of these decisions are taken on an operational basis. They are done in full consultation with the people on the ground."

The move came as United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned in an interview with ITV that the war in Iraq had failed to make the world a safer place.

The Times said MPs and military sources had warned of the danger of British soldiers being associated with heavy-handed US military tactics in central Iraq and of being drawn deeper into the conflict.

Thousands of anti-war campaigners took to the streets of London yesterday calling for an end to the "illegal occupation" of Iraq by US-led coalition troops.

The protest, which police said attracted about 15,000 people, aimed to pile yet more pressure on Prime Minister Tony Blair.

What remains unclear is the timing of the main US assault on Fallujah. A British official said it might not wait until the American presidential election on November 2.

Annan said: "The arguments about Iraq have been well rehearsed already in the campaign. We do not think it will play any significant part on a decision on Fallujah."

Military sources have said US forces will need to boost their numbers significantly before attacking the town, where more than 3000 heavily armed insurgents are said to be ensconced.

US commanders are said to be determined to avoid a repetition of last April's debacle in which an offensive on Fallujah was abandoned after several weeks of clashes and a bloody siege, handing the militants a propaganda victory.

In Fallujah yesterday, for the first time in the current offensive, US AC-130 gunships, with devastating firepower, flew over the town, although no details have been released on whether they had taken part in attacks. Residents described widespread destruction to buildings.

About five people were killed in air strikes by US warplanes.

The scale and intensity of US attacks on Fallujah, where the Jordanian-born militant leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and his Tawhid and Jihad group, is supposed to have his headquarters, have grown daily.

Britain's ambassador to Iraq, Edward Chaplin, appealed in Arabic yesterday to the killers of hostage Kenneth Bigley to return his body and finally allow his family to lay him to rest.

Deployment of troops by region

* Baghdad: 30,000 foreign soldiers, mostly US; 32 Estonians at Abu Ghraib jail. Likely location for 650 troops from Britain's Black Watch regiment.

* Multinational Brigade North (including Mosul, Arbil): Around 11,500 Iraqi forces; 8500 mostly US troops (Third Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division); South Koreans (2800).

* North-central area: US 1st Infantry; Georgians (150); Latvians (40); Moldovans (30); Macedonians (30).

* Western area (including Fallujah): US 1st Marine Division; Azerbaijanis (150); Tongans (45).

* Centre-south (including Najaf): Poles (2350); Ukrainians (1550); Thais (450); Bulgarians (420); Hungarians (290); Romanians (200); Mongolians (140); Latvians (110); Slovaks (110); Lithuanians (50).

* South-east (incl Basra): Britons (8300, mainly 1st Mechanised Brigade); Italians (2800); Dutch (1300); Japanese (500); Romanians (500); Danes (400); Portuguese (124); Czechs (90); Lithuanians (60).

- INDEPENDENT, REUTERS

Herald Feature: Iraq