4,500 troops fly to Iraq

Daily Mail

Last updated at 10:25 07 April 2004


Thousands of British troops will fly to Iraq over the coming days to help deal with the worsening violence that is ravaging the country.

The Ministry of Defence insisted the 4,500 soldiers are replacements for other British units about to leave.

But the latest security crisis has prompted fears the coalition allies may have to commit substantial reinforcements.

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence confirmed that 700 soldiers from the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment would fly to Iraq over the next 48 hours.

They will be followed by other units from the 4,500-strong 1st Mechanised Brigade, based at Tidworth in Wiltshire, including the 1st Regiment, Royal Horse Artillery.

The MoD spokesman said the forces are taking over from 20 Armoured Brigade which is returning to Germany over the next ten days in a long-planned rotation.

He added: "We always keep things under consideration and review, but there are no plans in the pipeline at the moment to send out additional troops."

Tony Blair will visit Washington for talks with President Bush next week, and Pentagon officials said yesterday that troop levels in Iraq would be high on the agenda.

Iraq's foreign minister, Hoshyar Zedari, held talks in London with Mr Blair yesterday and later said Iraq needs 25,000 extra soldiers to cope with worsening violence, which he said would spiral in the three months leading up to the handover of power.

Yesterday, American commanders were reported to have ordered that plans be drawn up to send thousands more rapid reaction forces to the Gulf.

A senior officer at US Central Command in Florida confirmed last night that there is currently a "fresh review" of "troops that could be sent quickly if security conditions in Iraq worsen".

Currently America has 134,000 troops in Iraq, Britain has 9,000 and an international brigade including Poles, Spaniards, Italians and others brings the total to around 160,000.

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