Britain has drawn up plans to expand its role in Iraq to help cope with the withdrawal of Spanish troops, according to reports in the British media this morning.
Defence chiefs have drafted a series of options, which include sending up to 2,000 more soldiers to Iraq, today's Timessaid, citing unnamed government sources. The paper said British troops may go to volatile cities such as Najaf, base of rebel cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose militia has launched an uprising against the US-led occupation.
The British defence ministry said the situation in Iraq "was under review" after the Spanish decision to withdraw and escalating violence across the country.
Britain has the second biggest military force in Iraq after the United States, with about 7,500 soldiers based mainly around the southern city of Basra.
Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's decision to pull out 1,400 troops piled pressure on the US. Honduras and the Dominican Republic also plan to pull out their forces after a planned US handover of power to Iraqis on June 30th.
Spanish bases in Diwaniya and the holy city of Najaf in south-central Iraq have come under sporadic attack during an upsurge of violence. US officials said on Sunday a potentially explosive situation was brewing in Najaf.