5,000 may go to Iraq

The Government has ordered an urgent review of British troops in Iraq after being told 5,000 more soldiers should be rushed out to counter a growing threat of chaos.

As the review was announced today, Tony Blair declared that the answer to the menace from terrorism "should not be to waver but to redouble our efforts".

The move follows a grim private warning from Foreign Secretary Jack Straw that the situation is sliding out of control.

Mr Straw urged that an extra brigade be dispatched before the Muslim season of Ramadan which begins near the end of next month.

In documents leaked today, he warned that if more troops are not sent in the next six weeks the entire British and American peace-keeping effort risks "strategic failure".

The Ministry of Defence, asked about the warning, said today: "In the light of events in Iraq over past weeks, the Defence Secretary [Geoff Hoon] has asked for a review of the forces and resources required to support UK operations."

Whitehall said no final decision had been taken but an announcement could
come as early as next week, when MPs reassemble after their summer break.

Mr Straw's private warning paint a bleak picture of failure to restore normal life in Iraq, hampered by looting and sabotage and fears of a terrorist "spectacular". Any move to send extra troops, however, is likely to renew charges from the opponents of the war that Britain is being sucked into a long-term conflict.

Whitehall sources today pointed out that the current level of British troops in Iraq, at 11,000, is well below its wartime peak. The number of British soldiers killed stands at 49, including 11 who have died since 1 May, when President George Bush declared major fighting over.

The leaked documents, marked "Confidential", were reportedly drawn up by officials from a series of Whitehall departments and Mr Straw is said to have approved the material in full.

The Prime Minister, at his Downing Street press conference today, acknowledged there was "a serious situation" in the country. But Mr Blair said the vast majority of Iraqis wanted to see peace restored, and the attacks were by "a small number of Saddam supporters and an increasing number of outside groups". He said he had no doubt the effort to "root out and defeat" terrorists would succeed.

The Prime Minister played down suggestions that large numbers of extra troops would need to be sent to the Gulf. He had not seen the reported warnings from Mr Straw, he said, but while troop numbers were kept under "constant review" there had been no decisions taken.

Blair said the Government had been through "a tough time for obvious reasons", while insisting he would stick to public-service reforms. But he said ministers would listen to objections, not least over student tuition fees, in a signal they may be ready for a partial retreat in the face of opposition from Labour MPs.