Prime Minister Tony Blair today reiterated his promise that the Black Watch "will be home for Christmas" as the British army announced that some 800 troops have begun their deployment north towards Baghdad from their base in southern Iraq.
Lieutenant-Colonel James Cowan said the troops, accompanied by 40 US marines, had left the southern city of Basra to head for a base in Hilla, about 60 miles south of Baghdad. "British forces have just started moving this morning into the north of Hilla. They will deploy in that area and will receive their jobs in maintaining security there," he said.
The government gave the go-ahead last week for an 850-strong battle group led by the Black Watch to deploy north of their base around Basra. They will replace US troops who are expected to take part in offensives against insurgent strongholds west and north of the capital. The move is part of a coalition effort to bring order to Iraq before elections in January.
The American military wants the British to assume security responsibility in areas close to Baghdad, to enable US marines and soldiers to be moved to insurgency strongholds west of the capital, including Falluja.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said: "This is the commencement of the deployment of the Black Watch battle group." The MoD gave no further details of today's movements but reports said around 50 vehicles were on the move. They are heading to an area regarded as far more dangerous than the region they have so far been operating in.
Asked about the deployment at prime minister's question time, Tony Blair repeated his promise that the Black Watch would be home by Christmas. He added that he did not believe that further British troops would be needed to replace them in central Iraq, though he could not guarantee that.
Challenged by the Liberal Democrat leader, Charles Kennedy, about whether the Black Watch would be replaced by US troops, Mr Blair said he had neither been given nor sought assurances that further deployments would come from America. The chief of the defence staff, General Sir Michael Walker, has said they may need to be replaced by other troops from the multinational force.
The deployment starts as a Guardian/ICM survey today shows overwhelming opposition to the move. The poll of 1,001 adults for found that 61% disapproved of the decision, while 30% approved. Even among Labour supporters, 55% were against the deployment, with 40% in favour. Despite that, overall opposition to the war has fallen, with 46% saying they thought the invasion was unjustified, a drop of 10 points since July.
In other developments, a Japanese national was the latest hostage to be taken by militants with a video posted on an Islamic website in the name of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group.
The group threatened to behead him within 48 hours unless Japan pulls its troops from Iraq, a request which was rejected by Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi. The hostage, Shosei Koda, 24, was a "private individual" with no connection to the Japanese government or armed forces, foreign minister Nobutaka Michimura stressed.
Meanwhile, there was no more news on the kidnapped aid worker Margaret Hassan, who went missing in Baghdad eight days ago. Ms Hassan, director for Care International in Iraq, was snatched at gunpoint by an as-yet-unidentified group.
Ms Hassan, who has British and Iraqi nationality, was born in Dublin and has lived in Iraq for about 30 years. She was seen in a harrowing broadcast last Friday begging for her life. She urged Mr Blair not to send troops to Baghdad and warned she could meet the same fate as the murdered British hostage Kenneth Bigley.