British armoured brigades based in northern Germany are beginning to prepare tanks and other vehicles for fighting in the Iraqi desert, defence sources said yesterday.
The brigades have already taken part in exercises in preparation for Iraq, and the process of ”desertification” — fitting special air filters, repainting the camouflage in desert colours and other changes — is under way.
The defence secretary, Geoff Hoon, is expected to make a Commons statement on the mobilisation of British forces for the Gulf when MPs return from their break today, though the announcement could be delayed if there are other demands for parliamentary time.
Downing Street insists no decision on war has been taken and the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, said yesterday he thought the chances of avoiding conflict were 60-40. ”That is a reasonably accurate description, but the situation changes from day to day,” he said.
A partial mobilisation will allow British forces to engage in action against Iraq, alongside the US, from mid-February.
Hoon’s statement will deal primarily with the call up of reservists, but he will hint at a wider deployment, including armoured brigades and the sending of more naval forces to the Gulf.
A defence source said it would soon be obvious to any observer in Germany that the tanks were being readied for the desert, and it was better to get the announcement out.
The seventh armoured brigade, based at Hohne, in northern Germany, may be supported by units from the fourth armoured brigade, based at Osnabruck.
Up to 7 000 reservists could be called up, but only about half would serve. The calculation is that the others, for a variety of reasons, would be unable to leave their jobs. The bulk of the reservists will be used for what the Ministry of Defence refers to as ”back-fill”, replacing full-time service personnel in Britain or elsewhere, thereby freeing others for posting to Kuwait.
The MoD, reluctant to be seen to be escalating the confrontation too soon, will set out a range of options for the deployment of regular service personnel, rather than announcing fixed numbers.
Straw has meanwhile indicated that the White House has come round to the need for a second UN security council resolution before embarking on war.
”We have always made it clear explicitly our preference is for a second resolution,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. ”I believe that is also the position of the US.”
Last night the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohammed El Baradei, said that its inspectors had found nothing suspicious in Iraq so far. – Guardian Unlimited Â