Britain ready to send 1,800 troops as part of Nato peace-keeping force

BRITAIN'S MILITARY involvement in the Balkans is set to deepen with the expected deployment of than 1,800 troops in Macedonia, the Ministry of Defence revealed yesterday.

The soldiers would make up half of the new Nato peacekeeping force in the country once a political agreement is reached between its Albanian and majority populations.

The Conservative Party immediately attacked Britain's European Union allies for failing to come up with substantial troop numbers for the force, claiming the UK was again left to carry out most of the duties.

The MoD announcement came as Nato confirmed that it could quickly deploy up to 3,500 troops in Macedonia once a series of conditions were met to defuse the five-month ethnic Albanian insurgency.

Deployment of the force, meant to collect weapons from ethnic Albanian rebels once a peace deal is in place, could start within 48 hours of approval from the 19-member alliance and could be fully operational within two weeks, a Nato spokesman said. The MoD confirmed that 1,800 British troops had been earmarked for a "HQ and battlegroup contribution".

Iain Duncan Smith, the shadow Defence Secretary, said he supported British troops but was worried about the lack of response of the UK's European partners. "We have concerns as to why Britain will be deploying the lion's share of the troops yet again. With overstretch reaching critical levels we have to ask how long our troops will be in this theatre," he said.

Britain already has some 3,000 troops in Kosovo and some 1,700 in Bosnia and Croatia and the Conservatives claimed that reservists may have to be called up to meet demand.

An MoD spokesman said that ratification of any peace deal by the Macedonian Parliament could take up to 40 days and Britain's participation depended on a political agreement, on an agreed weapons collection plan and on the enduring support of all parties.

Leaders of the Macedonian Slav and ethnic Albanian political parties are said to be close to a final deal. A breakthrough on police reforms at the Western-brokered political talks on Sunday has raised hopes of defusing the crisis.