Britain agrees to US call to move Iraq troops

ROBERT MACPHERSON LONDON – With the insurgency in Iraq showing no signs of abating as election day nears, Britain agreed yesterday to a US request to redeploy 850 crack troops to a volatile area to the west of Baghdad.

“The government has decided that we should accept the US request for assistance,” Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon told parliament, adding that the deployment would be “limited in scope, time and space”. The redeployment marks the first time since the March 2003 invasion that British troops have left southern Iraq for US-controlled areas, where they are liable to come under deadly hostile fire.Britain has about 8 000 troops in the relatively tame south, around Basra city, compared to 138 000 US troops in the centre and north.Hoon said an “armoured battlegroup” comprising 850 troops would be drawn from Scotland’s Black Watch regiment, currently in southern Iraq, “to relieve a US unit for other tasks”.The decision was announced in the House of Commons after Britain’s “overall strategy” in Iraq was discussed at Prime Minister Tony Blair’s weekly meeting with his cabinet, a Downing Street spokesman said.Hoon said the British troops would remain under the “operational command” of Major General Bill Rollo – although Chief of Defence Staff General Sir Michael Walker added that they would be under day-to-day “tactical” American control.”They will be placed under what is called the tactical control of the commander of 24 Marine Expeditionary Unit, a US Marine Corps formation,” Walker told reporters in London.”What that will do will allow the US Marine commander the authority to co-ordinate local movement, the authority to co-ordinate the use of available real estate and the authority to co-ordinate area defence,” he said.Walker added that the redeployment was subject to “a 30 day limit” – although he left open the possibility of an extension.Yesterday’s announcement ended nearly a week of speculation that Blair would consent to a Pentagon plea for British troops to “backfill” for US forces ahead of an expected US assault on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.Hoon insisted that the decision was unrelated to US President George W.Bush’s fight to win a second term in the White House in his November 2 election showdown with Democratic challenger John Kerry.- Nampa-AFPThe redeployment marks the first time since the March 2003 invasion that British troops have left southern Iraq for US-controlled areas, where they are liable to come under deadly hostile fire.Britain has about 8 000 troops in the relatively tame south, around Basra city, compared to 138 000 US troops in the centre and north.Hoon said an “armoured battlegroup” comprising 850 troops would be drawn from Scotland’s Black Watch regiment, currently in southern Iraq, “to relieve a US unit for other tasks”.The decision was announced in the House of Commons after Britain’s “overall strategy” in Iraq was discussed at Prime Minister Tony Blair’s weekly meeting with his cabinet, a Downing Street spokesman said.Hoon said the British troops would remain under the “operational command” of Major General Bill Rollo – although Chief of Defence Staff General Sir Michael Walker added that they would be under day-to-day “tactical” American control.”They will be placed under what is called the tactical control of the commander of 24 Marine Expeditionary Unit, a US Marine Corps formation,” Walker told reporters in London.”What that will do will allow the US Marine commander the authority to co-ordinate local movement, the authority to co-ordinate the use of available real estate and the authority to co-ordinate area defence,” he said.Walker added that the redeployment was subject to “a 30 day limit” – although he left open the possibility of an extension.Yesterday’s announcement ended nearly a week of speculation that Blair would consent to a Pentagon plea for British troops to “backfill” for US forces ahead of an expected US assault on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.Hoon insisted that the decision was unrelated to US President George W.Bush’s fight to win a second term in the White House in his November 2 election showdown with Democratic challenger John Kerry.- Nampa-AFP