London: Britain plans to send an additional 4,000 troops to Iraq to take control of the Shia holy city of Najaf, a leading London daily reported today (May 2, 2004).

The additional troops will start arriving in Iraq in the next few weeks to plug the gap left by the 1,300 Spanish soldiers who were withdrawn from the country last week, 'The Sunday Telegraph' reported.

Najaf, which is a two-hour drive from Baghdad, has the shrines where many important figures in Shia Islam, including the mosque where Ali, the founder of the faith is buried.

The British force will be composed of troops from the Royal Marine Commandos, a Parachute Regiment battalion and an as-yet unidentified infantry battalion, as well as supporting elements from artillery and logistics units. The force will be lead by Brig Jim Dutton, the commander of 3 Commando Brigade, who also served during the Iraq war, the report said.

A Defence Ministry spokesman said that plans for the deployment of troops had been drawn up, but added, "Formal decisions have not yet been made."

Adam Ingram, the Armed Forces Minister, said that discussions were continuing with other members of the Coalition about how to respond to the withdrawal of Spanish troops, but declined to be drawn on specific plans.

"It's something that clearly had to be considered given the fact that there is a changed situation with the withdrawal of Spanish forces," Ingram said on BBC Radio Four yesterday (May 1, 20004).