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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, April 01, 2003

Britain Says No Senior Iraqi Military Defections Yet

British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said on Monday that Britain has seen no defections yet of senior Iraqi commanders as the ongoing US-led war on Iraq entered the 12th day.


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British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said on Monday that Britain has seen no defections yet of senior Iraqi commanders as the ongoing US-led war on Iraq entered the 12th day.

"There have been as yet no defections of very senior (Iraqi) politicians or very senior military commanders, but that is certainly not to say there have not been significant surrenders," he told the House of Commons, Britain's lower house of the parliament.

"We currently hold around 8,000 prisoners of war," Hoon said.

Insisting that coalition forces were making steady progress in the military campaign in Iraq, the defense minister said Britain did not intend to send more forces to the Gulf.

"What I am ruling out at this stage anyway is the necessity of any substantial increase of our troops," said Hoon, who claimed on Sunday that the 45,000 British troops would be replaced if the battles in Iraq continue for months.

Coalition forces have secured southern and western Iraq, he told the lawmakers.

However, Hoon warned that the war in Iraq was always likely to be a difficult one.

"This is really a difficult, demanding and dangerous action," he said.

Hoon's comments came amid speculations that Anglo-American military campaign against Iraq was bogged down due to problems of supply lines and strong resistance from Iraqi forces.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Tony Blair's spokesman claimed on Monday that the war with Iraq would continue until the goal of removing Iraqi President Saddam Hussein from power is achieved.


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