London - Britain said Tuesday it would send 600 troops to
Kosovo on a four-week deployment at the end of May to assist with
NATO peacekeeping activities.
'The security situation has remained tense and there have been
some sporadic incidents of violence,' Defence Secretary Des Browne
said in a written statement to parliament.
The deployment of a battalion to the newly-independent state would
demonstrate 'Britain's commitment to the region's security and will
provide extra flexibility in maintaining local peace and stability.'
Britain currently has 150 troops in Kosovo as part of the NATO
peacekeeping force.
The new deployment is in response to a request from NATO for
assistance in dealing with violence between Kosovo's ethnic Albanians
and its minority Serbian population.
Britain is responsible for providing NATO's standby reserve force
for the Balkans for the first six months of this year.
The defence spokesman of the opposition Conservatives, Liam Fox,
said he agreed that Britain should 'fulfil its commitments' within
NATO, but warned of an 'increased overstretch' of British forces with
large contingents deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Browne's statement said that the soldiers from 2nd Battalion, The
Rifles, were based in the province of Northern Ireland and had been
'trained specifically for this requirement.'
Britain would remain committed to the so-called NATO/EU Operational
Reserve Force for the Balkans 'at a lower level of readiness during
the second half of 2008,' Browne said.
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