Post by [xG]juddski on May 1, 2007 10:22:14 GMT
Prince Harry will join British troops fighting in Iraq - but the decision will remain under constant review.
There has been mounting speculation that the young royal, an officer with the Blues and Royals, will not see service with his men in the Middle East after 12 soldiers died in Iraq this month.
Chief of the general staff General Sir Richard Dannatt, who announced in February that the Prince would serve in the Gulf, said in a pooled television interview: "I, as chief of the general staff, will take the decision and have taken the decision as to whether he should or should not deploy.
"And I do so as chief of the general staff and having full command of every member of the Army including Prince Harry.
"Second, the decision has been taken he will deploy. Third, I will of course keep that decision continually under review and if circumstances are such that I change that decision, I will make a further statement."
It is feared Harry's arrival in Iraq would increase the risk of attacks on his colleagues in the Blues and Royals.
But any hopes the Prince would be able to perform his duties under the "anonymity" of being just another officer were dealt a blow by claims from a Shia commander in Iraq that the Mahdi army had people inside British bases who would leak information about the Prince's arrival.
Abu Mujtaba, a commander in the Mahdi army, the Shia militia loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said one of his aims was to capture the prince.
Harry's planned deployment in May comes after one of the bloodiest months for British service personnel in the region since hostilities began.
Some 12 servicemen's lives have been lost, including two on April 19 who were doing the same job the royal officer was expected to take up on his six-month tour.
The latest to die was Rifleman Paul Donnachie, of 2nd Battalion the Rifles, who was killed by small arms fire while on patrol in Basra on Sunday.
The 18-year-old from Reading, Berkshire, was shot in the Al Ashar district of the city by an "opportunist" gunman as he got out of his vehicle to check the route.
British intelligence is likely to be analysing whether the recent surge in deaths poses a specific, targeted threat to Harry and those serving immediately alongside him, or is part of a general escalation.
The Prince has insisted he wants to lead his 11-strong armoured reconnaissance troop in Iraq.
In an interview to mark his 21st birthday, Harry said: "There's no way I'm going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country."
But friends have stressed he would stay in the Army if stopped from going to Iraq.
The Duke of York, the last royal to be sent to a conflict zone and, like Harry, born the spare to the heir, said in a documentary in 1991: "Had I not gone to the Falklands my position within the Navy would have been untenable."
Copyright Press Association 2007
There has been mounting speculation that the young royal, an officer with the Blues and Royals, will not see service with his men in the Middle East after 12 soldiers died in Iraq this month.
Chief of the general staff General Sir Richard Dannatt, who announced in February that the Prince would serve in the Gulf, said in a pooled television interview: "I, as chief of the general staff, will take the decision and have taken the decision as to whether he should or should not deploy.
"And I do so as chief of the general staff and having full command of every member of the Army including Prince Harry.
"Second, the decision has been taken he will deploy. Third, I will of course keep that decision continually under review and if circumstances are such that I change that decision, I will make a further statement."
It is feared Harry's arrival in Iraq would increase the risk of attacks on his colleagues in the Blues and Royals.
But any hopes the Prince would be able to perform his duties under the "anonymity" of being just another officer were dealt a blow by claims from a Shia commander in Iraq that the Mahdi army had people inside British bases who would leak information about the Prince's arrival.
Abu Mujtaba, a commander in the Mahdi army, the Shia militia loyal to radical cleric Moqtada al-Sadr said one of his aims was to capture the prince.
Harry's planned deployment in May comes after one of the bloodiest months for British service personnel in the region since hostilities began.
Some 12 servicemen's lives have been lost, including two on April 19 who were doing the same job the royal officer was expected to take up on his six-month tour.
The latest to die was Rifleman Paul Donnachie, of 2nd Battalion the Rifles, who was killed by small arms fire while on patrol in Basra on Sunday.
The 18-year-old from Reading, Berkshire, was shot in the Al Ashar district of the city by an "opportunist" gunman as he got out of his vehicle to check the route.
British intelligence is likely to be analysing whether the recent surge in deaths poses a specific, targeted threat to Harry and those serving immediately alongside him, or is part of a general escalation.
The Prince has insisted he wants to lead his 11-strong armoured reconnaissance troop in Iraq.
In an interview to mark his 21st birthday, Harry said: "There's no way I'm going to put myself through Sandhurst and then sit on my arse back home while my boys are out fighting for their country."
But friends have stressed he would stay in the Army if stopped from going to Iraq.
The Duke of York, the last royal to be sent to a conflict zone and, like Harry, born the spare to the heir, said in a documentary in 1991: "Had I not gone to the Falklands my position within the Navy would have been untenable."
Copyright Press Association 2007