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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, January 21, 2003

30,000 British Troops to be Sent to Gulf

British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said on Monday that a total of 30,000 British troops were to be deployed to the Gulf in preparation for a possible war against Iraq, The Sky News reported.


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30,000 British Troops to be Sent to Gulf
British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said on Monday that a total of 30,000 British troops were to be deployed to the Gulf in preparation for a possible war against Iraq, The Sky News reported.

In an announcement to the House of Commons, Hoon told lawmakersthat troops from the 7th Armored Brigade and 16th Air Assault Brigade, with around 120 Challenger 2 battle tanks, were being placed on standby.

Earlier reports said the troops would join thousands of Britishand American troops and military equipment that had already moved into the Gulf region, with an aim of exerting more military pressure on Iraq to disarm volunteeringly.

Reports said this was the most significant step so far in the British military build-up, which means British armored troops would be stationed in Kuwait by mid-February.

Britain, the staunchest US ally on disarming Iraq, has already sent to the Gulf a royal task force fleet comprising 16 ships suchas aircraft carriers and a submarine in mid-January.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said that war with Iraq remained a last choice, but it was important to keep up the pressure on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein with a military build-up.

Amid huge US military build-up of warplanes, ships and tens of thousands of troops in the Gulf region, Washington earlier warned Saddam that noncooperation with UN inspectors could be deemed a trigger for a war without a "smoking gun" or hard evidence of banned weapons.


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