UK mulling US request for Iraq troop help

Britain said yesterday it will respond soon to a US request to send troops to more dangerous areas of Iraq, a politically charged issue that has revived anger over Prime Minister Tony Blair's support for the war.

"The US request is for a limited number of UK ground forces to be made available to relieve US forces, to allow them in turn to participate in further operations elsewhere in Iraq to maintain the continuing pressure on terrorists," Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon told parliament.

Mr Hoon said British troops would not be required in the flashpoint areas of Baghdad or Falluja.

Government sources said officials were expected to make a final assessment on the US request in days.

Asked by a parliamentarian about the consequences of turning Washington down, Mr Hoon said: "There will be no penalty but we will have failed in our duty as an ally."

The prospect of British troops becoming more embroiled in what many in Britain see as an increasingly chaotic situation in Iraq has sparked a political row and fears of a sharp rise in British military casualties.

Critics have accused Mr Blair of preparing to put the lives of British troops at greater risk to help President George W. Bush in the US presidential election on November 2, in which Iraq is a key issue.

Mr Blair's decision to back Mr Bush over the March 2003 invasion of Iraq has hit his ratings and divided his Labour Party.

Mr Hoon rejected the accusations. "I want to make clear that the request is a military request," said Mr Hoon.

"Although it is linked to elections it is not the US elections but with efforts to create the best possible security situation in which to hold the Iraq elections in January." But critics, some in the Labour Party, questioned why Washington thought the redeployment of a small number of British troops was so vital at this time.

"I and many others... do not take kindly to the idea that we are being engaged with President Bush and the Pentagon in order to bail them out," said Labour parliamentarian Dennis Skinner.

Britain has some 8,000 troops in Iraq but until now its forces have operated only in the relatively quiet Basra area of southern Iraq.

Since last year's US-led invasion of Iraq, 68 British troops have died, compared with more than 1,000 US troops.

Analysts say up to 650 British troops may be moved north in response to the US request to cover for American forces now fighting guerillas in the rebel-held city of Falluja and elsewhere.