UK navy to patrol Gulf

[xmasdale]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/11/02/wgulf1 02.xml



Navy to patrol Gulf in the spring

by David Blair, Daily Telegraph, 2 November 2007


A Royal Navy aircraft carrier will be deployed in the Gulf next
spring, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed.

Illustrious will sail for the highly sensitive waters near Iran
accompanied by Edinburgh, a Type 42 destroyer whose main role is
providing air defence, and Westminster, a Type 23 frigate.

Two minesweepers and three support vessels from the Royal Fleet
Auxiliary will complete the deployment for Operation Orion 08.

The ships will spend about six months in the Gulf, the Indian Ocean
and the Red Sea.

Their presence may coincide with a crucial period in the West's
confrontation with Iran.

Observers believe that the spring is the last possible moment for
President George W Bush to order military strikes against Iran's
nuclear programme. The imminence of America's presidential election
may make it impossible for Washington to carry out an attack any
later.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said the deployment had been "planned
for a while" and that British carriers were present in the Gulf last
year and in 2005.

"The idea is to demonstrate our commitment to maritime security in a
strategically very important part of the world."

The warships will be handled by the Navy's permanent staff of 30 based
in Bahrain's capital, Manama.