UK starts to get ready for war against Iraq

THE UK is starting to get ready for possible war against Iraq, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced yesterday.

Officials said plans to provide equipment for a campaign had begun, and ships were being hired to take any troops needed to the Gulf.

And in America US President George W Bush yesterday ordered the military to begin deploying a national missile defence system with 10 interceptor rockets at a base in Alaska by 2004.

The MoD ministry stressed their moves were only contingency plans no troops had yet been deployed, nor had the size of any force been decided.

The news came as Iraqi opposition groups meeting in London agreed on the make-up of a committee that could form the basis for a new government in Baghdad.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell has also added to speculation about possible war by expressing his doubts about Iraq's declaration about weapons of mass destruction.

Mr Powell said there were "problems" with the declaration.

The White House has warned the dossier, which was submitted on 7 December, had been Iraq's last chance to come clean about its weapons programmes.

UK Prime Minister Tony Blair has refused to be drawn on this and said the British Government would await a full report from UN inspectors.

At the MoD, officials insisted war was neither "imminent nor inevitable" and said diplomatic efforts were still being pursued to resolve the Iraq crisis.

The shape of any military operation had not been decided, they said.

But reservists and their employers were being contacted to make sure they have no objections to being called up if necessary.

Some regular troop units being put on notice so they could move quickly if required.

Tanks were also being prepared for desert conditions, with their filters and fans to be changed so they could cope with sand.

An official explained: "We are preparing in a military sense so that the threat of military force is there to support the idea that compliance is a good idea.

"But behind that is preparation for actual use of force if that should prove necessary."

It is understood military planners are preparing for every possible eventuality, from sending a light force to deploying large numbers of troops.

President Bush's decision to begin deploying a national missile defence system came as US asked to use a radar complex in northern England as part of the missile shield, the British government said yesterday.

Blair's Downing Street office said the government had made no decision on the written request to use the Royal Air Force base at Fylingdales in North Yorkshire.

American officials have also asked NATO member Denmark if it can upgrade a radar station at an American Air Force base in Greenland as part of the missile defence system, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said yesterday.

Greenland is a semi-autonomous Danish territory with no say when it comes to defence and foreign policy.

Mr Bush said the "initial capabilities" will also include sea-based interceptors and sensors based on land, at sea and in space. Erecting such a shield is the Pentagon's single most expensive development program, likely to cost hundreds of billions of dollars over coming decades.