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British troops stood down

Hoon: "Flexible approach" for the future

LONDON, England -- British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon has announced the standing down of most of 6,000 UK troops on 48-hour notice to go to Afghanistan.

He also revealed that four of the small number of British troops already in Afghanistan had been injured.

"I am delighted to say that all four are back in the United Kingdom receiving treatment," he told Sky News.

He said that one of injured was "more serious" and the other three were less serious.

On the troop deployment, he told the British parliament the notice to move for the majority British troops on battle-readiness alert had been reduced from 48 hours to one week.

Hoon said the decision had been taken in the light of developments in Afghanistan and was a "measured response" which would offer the maximum flexibility to respond to further developments.

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"Given the more encouraging position on the ground I have today decided to relax the notice to move for the bulk of these forces," he told MPs.

The 6,000 troops who were on 48-hour standby are members of 42 Royal Marines Commando and the 2nd Battalion the Parachute Regiment.

They had their notice to move reduced from five days after the rapid fall of the Afghan capital.

"Leading elements of Two Para and 16 Air Assault brigade and key enablers will remain at 48 hours notice to move. The remainder of these forces will revert to their previous still high readiness state and will be able to move within one week," said Hoon.

Earlier UK Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman pointed to the changing nature of the situation on the ground after the fall of Kabul.

The spokesman also stressed that the situation could change rapidly and that troops could still be put back on standby in future.

"What comes down can always go up again," he said. "It is one of the strengths of our armed forces that we are able to respond quickly and flexibly to changing situations."

He said: "When Blair put the troops on alert earlier this month the situation in Afghanistan was much less stable.

British marines found they were unwelcome with the Northern Alliance

"Obviously when Kabul fell it was a period of great uncertainty and there were widespread predictions of a possible bloodbath.

"That hasn't materialised. Aid is getting in. The position on the ground is a lot more stable than anyone could have predicted."

Ten days ago Britain deployed an advance party of 85 Royal Marines into Bagram airbase, north of the Afghan capital Kabul, earlier this month and it was expected a much larger force would follow.

But there was opposition to the British troops presence from the Northern Alliance.

CNN's Diana Muriel said that the new British emphasis on flexibility came as confusion mounted on European nations' military role in the conflict.

Cracks were beginning to appear in the coalition over the long-term role of any military mission in Afghanistan, she said.

The Germans have sent a cargo aircraft to a Turkish airbase on standby for use in Afghanistan and the French have sent special forces to Uzbekistan ready to secure an airfield near Mazar-e Sharif. Muriel said that in the face of Northern Alliance opposition to British troops and what is being seen as limited U.S. support for UK ground forces, Britain appeared to be back-tracking on sending its forces.

The U.S. has stressed its main target is the destruction of the al Qaeda network and the arrest of its leader Osama bin Laden, suspected by the U.S. for involvement in the September 11 terrorist attacks.

But British ministers had argued that a large troop presence was necessary to secure aid supplies.

The latest British position is that they will provide troops if invited by the new Afghan government.

Analysts have detected a different approach between U.S. President George W. Bush and the UK's Blair, with more apparent readiness from Blair to commit troops in the long term for a "nation rebuilding" programme.