The British government agreed on Thursday to a US request to redeploy British troops in Iraq to relieve American forces, despite angry objections from some lawmakers, who fear a major increase in British casualties.

"After careful evaluation, the Chiefs of Staff have advised me that UK forces are able to undertake the proposed action, that there is a compelling military operational justification for doing so and that it entails an acceptable level of risk for UK forces," Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon told lawmakers.

"Based on this military advice, the government has decided that we should accept the US request for assistance," Hoon said in the statement to the House of Commons, the lower house of parliament.

The statement came after a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Tony Blair earlier in the day.

"This means that a UK armored battle group consisting of the 1st Battalion the Black Watch and supporting units will deploy to an area within Multi-National Force (West) to relieve a US unit for other tasks," Hoon said.

He stressed that British troops would operate under British rules of engagement.

Hoon said the deployment, involving around 850 troops, would be for a limited and specified period of time, lasting weeks rather than months.

Washington applauds desicion

Washington on Thursday applauded Britain's decision, saying that "it demonstrates once again that Britain has been a staunch supporter of the multinational effort to help the Iraqi people establish control of their country."

"It just demonstrates once again the kind of role that Britain is prepared to play in a matter that affects their security, our security, the security of all of us," said US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.

The redeployment of British troop in Iraq will also be instrumental to "stabilizing Iraq and helping the people of Iraq take control of their destiny and reconstruct their country," Boucher said.

Lawmakers fear mounting casualties

However, British lawmakers, many from Blair's own Labor party, are aghast at the prospect of British troops being moved to higher-risk areas.

More than 63 lawmakers have signed a motion calling for a Commons vote on any possible movement of British troops.

Some of Blair's lawmakers are suspicious the redeployment is a political gesture, allowing Bush to tell voters in the closing days of the presidential race that US forces are not alone in the most volatile areas of Iraq.

"Doesn't he think that it is slightly ironic that the US president and his vice president who both refused to face the muck and bullets in Vietnam are now calling on British forces to bail them out?" asked Labor veteran Dennis Skinner.

Several lawmakers expressed concern that the Black Watch was filling in for US troops expected to launch an all-out offensive on Fallujah.

Blair biographer Philip Stephens said the move had again shown the capacity of Iraq to wreck any efforts to refocus debate on the domestic politics that decide UK elections.

"If those British troops were to come under sustained attack and suffer heavy casualties, then I think there will be another political price to pay for Tony Blair," Stephens said.

So far, in comparison with almost 140,000 US soldiers in Iraq, Britain has some 8,500 troops deployed around Basra, a major city in south of Iraq, ranking the second in terms of the number of troops contributed by countries to the US-led coalition.

(Xinhua News Agency October 22, 2004)