Brown faces domestic pressure over 'proxy war'

Gordon Brown faces anger over the deployment of UK troops to Iraq's border with Iran and warnings that the strategy could drag Britain into confrontation with Tehran.

The Independent disclosed yesterday that up to 350 soldiers had been transferred from Basra to the frontier at the request of the Americans. The troop movement followed warnings from a senior US commander that the Iranian government was fomenting conflict between rival factions within Iraq.

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Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat leader, demanded an explanation from the Government over the controversial operation: "This is yet more evidence of the lack of a coherent strategy for the deployment of British troops in Iraq. It would be disastrous if we were drawn into some kind of proxy war with Iran.

"It would serve neither regional nor international interests and would put British lives at further risk," he added. "We have consistently called for the early withdrawal of British forces from Iraq as their presence is not helping establish the lasting peace the country so desperately needs."

Peter Kilfoyle, the former armed forces minister, called for a statement at the "earliest possible opportunity" from the Prime Minister or from Des Browne, the Defence Secretary.

He said: "This is alarming because it's a new role for our troops who already have a difficult peace-keeping role in Basra and could lead to a potential battle with the Iranians. Given the concerns over the Americans' intentions towards Iran, this is very worrying."

Mr Brown, who will make a statement to MPs early next month on the situation in Iraq, is facing calls to announce that the whole of Basra province is being handed over to Iraqi security authorities.

The Government has been at pains to stress its independence from American commanders when making decisions about troop deployment. Britain last week withdrew its remaining 550 troops from Basra Palace in the centre of the city to join 5,000 soldiers in what was termed an "overwatch" role at Basra airbase.

Mr Brown's spokesman said: "We will work very closely with them but our decision on troops in Basra will be based on an assessment on the ground and the readiness of the Iraqi security forces."

In an interview with today's New Statesman, Britain's outgoing ambassador to Washington makes clear the Government's irritation with the lack of preparation by the White House for rebuilding Iraq after the removal of Saddam Hussein.

Sir David Manning said: "Was a key period mishandled and opportunities lost? Yes. I don't think anybody can see that the immediate post-war situation was anything other than a failure. We had hoped that rapidly the situation would stabilise, that it would be possible to introduce reconciliation, get the economy moving quickly and rebuild society. Did it happen quickly? No, we failed. We were over-optimistic, as we perhaps were after the collapse of the Soviet Union, about the powers of this place to regenerate itself."

He said himself and Tony Blair had a meeting with President Bush to express their misgivings and were assured that the State Department would take charge of rebuilding. Instead the job went to the Defence Department, headed by Donald Rumsfeld.