LONDON, Oct 16: The British defence ministry denied on Saturday that any decision had been taken to redeploy British troops in the south of Iraq to Baghdad to free US troops for other operations.

"There is lots and lots of speculation: that's all it is, speculation," a ministry spokesman said.

"We keep our contribution to various operations in Iraq under review all the time; that includes force levels, positions, and individual operations.

"When any decisions are made on any new deployment, we will talk about them in the normal way."

British media have been reporting that Washington has asked for British troops to be sent north from Basra where they are stationed at present to relieve US forces in south Baghdad.

The American troops would then be available to conduct other operations. The British forces would be under US command, according to reports, one of which says about 650 troops would be concerned.

The Times newspaper said on Saturday the men would come from the Black Watch regiment, whose first battalion is currently in Basra.

"There are ongoing discussions all the time with our American ally," the spokesman said.

"These are military decisions. Whether or not the Secretary of State (Geoff Hoon) feels he has to make any announcement about any particular operation will be for him to decide.

"I'm not aware we have anything planned at the moment but obviously we all have to see what happens early next week."-APP