"If the troops do go they won't be going to Baghdad or Fallujah," a defence spokesman told AFP. The spokesman said that British Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon would brief parliament Monday over Washington's request.

"He plans to make a statement to the House (of Commons) tomorrow. What he is going to be saying is 'we have been approached by the Americans to deploy British troops in their area of operations'.

"He will also be stressing that no decision has been made and that we continue to consider their request and will do so on its individual merits. He won't be naming units, he won't be giving you a start date or anything like that," the spokesman added.

Reports in Britain have said British troops based in the relatively calm south of Iraq could be redeployed under US command near strife-torn Baghdad.

British media have been reporting that Washington has asked for British troops to be sent from the southern city of Basra to relieve US forces in south Baghdad.

The American troops would be freed up to carry out a major offensive in insurgent-held Fallujah, the reports stated.

Britain's 8,500-strong force in Iraq is largely based in the relatively quiet, oil-rich south of Iraq, with their headquarters in Basra city and have had far less contact with insurgents than their US counterparts around Baghdad.

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