Troop call-up looms as Britain readies for war

LONDON - Britain is expected to call up thousands of reservists to prepare for possible war on Iraq in a move not seen since the Korean War 50 years ago.

The Daily Telegraph newspaper reported that Prime Minister Tony Blair's Government had summoned the heads of military units involved in the call-up to a meeting at the Ministry of Defence.

The paper said the Government would issue a rare "Queen's Order" - a measure not taken since the 1950-53 Korean War - which limits the rights of reservists and their employers to appeal to avoid the call-up.

Reservists are not normally required to serve more than six months in a two-year period, but the Queen's Order overrides this, allowing Britain to recall reservists who were summoned over the past year for action in Afghanistan.

The initial call-up would include logistics staff, signals reservists and special forces, followed by up to 10,000 other troops, the paper said.

An announcement of a call-up would be by far the clearest sign yet that preparations for war are under way.

Britain has already announced plans to prepare Challenger II heavy tanks for desert combat, but says it has not taken any decision to mobilise for war.

The Daily Telegraph said Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon could announce the call-up during questions in Parliament today or tomorrow.

A spokeswoman at the ministry said no decision had been made for any call-up or mobilisation and she did not know of any planned meeting of heads of military units.

But military experts have long suggested Britain would have to start calling on reserves in November if it is to be ready to join the United States in a possible war in Iraq in the first months of next year, when weather is best for fighting.

The British mobilisation reflects American moves.

Washington analysts say between 40,000 and 50,000 US servicemen and women are quietly converging on the Gulf as part of the largest build-up of US warships in the region since the 1991 Gulf War.

Britain was the only country other than the US to contribute a full-fledged armoured division to the 1991 conflict. Military experts say it could send about 20,000 men to fight in a second Gulf conflict.

But American war plans received a setback yesterday when Saudi Arabia, a key US ally, said it would not let the United States use its facilities for any attack against neighbouring Iraq even if a strike was approved by the United Nations.

Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal told CNN: "We will abide by the decision of the United Nations Security Council and we will co-operate with the Security Council. But as to entering the conflict or using facilities ... that is something else."

The remarks were the strongest rejection by Saudi Arabia - which was a launchpad for the US-led Gulf War that drove Iraqi troops out of Kuwait after a seven-month occupation - of any assistance to a possible US attack on Iraq.

The rejection is another sign of the strained relations between the US and Saudi Arabia.

Tensions have been caused by last year's September 11 attacks on the United States, in which 15 of the 19 men believed to be the suicide attackers were Saudis, and Saudi anger at what it sees as United States bias towards Israel in the Middle East conflict.

- REUTERS

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