British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw warned the country yesterday to brace for casualties when a US-led coalition retaliates for the suicide hijacking attacks on Washington and New York.
Straw, speaking ahead of a groundbreaking visit to Iran, said there was a palpable and understandable sense of fear among the British public about the consequences of a military response to the Sept 11 attacks.
"There will be risks and there will be casualties and that is a very heavy responsibility on all those having to make the decisions," Straw told BBC radio.
"But it is obviously very much worse for those taking the risks and for their families."
Britain has said it will stand shoulder to shoulder with the US in its response to the attacks on the World Trade Center, in which thousands died.
Washington has named Saudi-born Islamic dissident Osama bin Laden, believed to be in Afghanistan, as the number one suspect.
Straw said that while people should know as much as possible about the justification behind the US targeting of bin Laden and Afghanistan's Taliban regime, he was not sure how much could be made public.
"I'm afraid that above all what people have to expect is a great deal of uncertainty," he said.
Straw is to use his visit to Iran yesterday to help Afghanistan's neighbors deal with refugees fleeing in the aftermath of the attacks on New York and Washington.
His two-day visit is the first by a British foreign secretary since the 1979 Islamic revolution which toppled the Shah.
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