More than 1,000 British soldiers are being prepared for deployment in Iraq after the Ministry of Defense ordered an urgent review of troop levels in the Gulf country, the Times newspaper reported Friday.

Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon on Thursday asked for a review of the forces and resources required to support British operations in Iraq, which has seen heightened insecurity during recent weeks.

With slightly more than 10,000 British troops serving in Iraq, there are growing concerns in the British government that Britain's commitment is too small to tackle a growing lack of security in the country, the paper said.

Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has reportedly called for Prime Minister Tony Blair to send an extra 5,000 troops to Iraq to avoid "strategic failure" amid deteriorating situation in that country.

However, a smaller force was under consideration by the government, the paper said.

The move came as the US attempt to win United Nations support for its mission in Baghdad was rejected on Thursday by France and Germany, which said the US new draft resolution on Iraq circulated at the UN Security Council did not go far enough in transferring power from the US-led administration to Iraqis.

Blair, when asked on Thursday if his government would deploy more troops to Iraq in face of unrelenting attacks on US and British occupation forces, told reporters that no decision has been taken on boosting the number of British troops in Iraq.
 
(Xinhua News Agency September 5, 2003)