A NATO force including up to 3,000 British troops would be deployed to Iraq to support the new interim government as it takes over the running of the country after June 30, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported Saturday.

Quoting a plan being drawn up in London and Washington, the newspaper said the force would consist of NATO's Allied Rapid Reaction Corps, based in Germany under the command of a British general, reinforced by a British battle group.

However, the paper said, the new force would not be deployed under a NATO banner but would be described as a British-led international force. About 60 percent of the corps' staff would be British.

According to the paper, the corps would be "temporarily extracted" from NATO to make it more politically acceptable to members of the alliance, such as France and Germany, which opposed to the US-led war against Iraq.

The plan was expected to be formally agreed at the NATO summit in Istanbul on the eve of the official hand-over of sovereignty on June 30 to the interim Iraqi government led by Iyad Allawi, the paper said.

British military officials have been working on plans for weeks involving the deployment of up to 3,000 troops to south central Iraq, including the holy city of Najaf, where fighting between US forces and the militia of cleric Moqtada al-Sadr occurred, the paper added. A deployment of 18 months is envisaged.

The British government on Thursday announced an additional deployment of 270 Royal Marines to Iraq, increasing the British troop level in Iraq to 9,200.

Although the United States has ensured a UN resolution on the status of the interim Iraqi government, it is still struggling to find countries willing to put up troops for Iraq amid waves of attacks on coalition forces.

Source: Xinhua