"This is an issue we are looking into now, we are examining it very carefully, and I hope that within the next few weeks we'll be able to make an announcement on it," said Blair during his weekly question period.

"The issue is not the Gurkhas themselves --- it is very clear the strength of that case ... and we're very proud to have them" in the British army, he said in reply to a question from the opposition Liberal Democrats.

"We simply have to examine what other consequences there may be of agreeing to the Gurkhas' case," he said.

Gurkhas have served in the British army since 1815, with 3,600 now serving in Britain and overseas, but very few have been granted the right to British citizenship.

Most Gurkhas return to Nepal -- which is currently in the midst of a Maoist insurgency -- at the end of their service, but 650 to 700 are known to have settled in Britain.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.