Britain announces plans to send more troops to Iraq

Britain planning to reinforce its military presence in Iraq in a move that reflects increasing concern about the threat to its troops and the inability of local forces to take over responsibility for the country's security.

The decision was announced by the UK Ministry of Defence as the foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, on her first visit to Iraq, warned that it was making "very slow" progress on security.

Separately, a leading international think tank warned that the conflict in Iraq was producing highly trained and motivated jihadists ready to commit terrorist acts in Europe and elsewhere.

The 360 extra British troops will be deployed in southern Iraq to reinforce the 19th Light Brigade which takes over from the 20th Armored Brigade, at present based in Basra, later this year, the ministry said. They will include soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, based in Cyprus, Royal Engineers, Royal Marines and Military Police.

The ministry said the engineers would help counter the evolving threat from improvised explosive devices, which have killed 19 British soldiers patrolling in "snatch" Land Rovers over the last 16 months. A Royal Marine boat troop will be deployed to step up security on the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which borders Iran. The extra military police will train local Iraqi forces.

At a joint Baghdad press conference, Beckett distanced herself from comments by Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, who said all 7,200 British troops in Iraq could be gone by the end of next year, by which time Iraqi security forces would have taken over their responsibilities.

She said the president was only offering a personal opinion and "not setting a deadline."

Withdrawal depend on the capability of Iraqi forces to take over from British forces.

"Coalition forces can't go now because that would create a security vacuum," she said.

She added that Iraq was making "very slow" progress on security, describing it as "two steps forward, two steps sideways".

A UK Foreign Office official said one of the biggest concerns was the growing involvement of Iran.