A BRITISH battalion of 600 infantry have been told to make ready for deployment to Iraq, the Conservatives claimed yesterday as US forces pushed into the heart of Fallujah.

The soldiers, understood to be from the 2nd Battalion Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment, were told of the move "some time ago", according to the Tories.

Shadow defence secretary Nicholas Soames said the battalion was expected to be based in the southern Iraqi city of Basra.

"I know that an infantry regiment has been stood up to go to Iraq." he said. "They are in the UK now. It is a battalion, about 600."

A spokesman for Mr Soames said: "He has it on good authority. It is pretty bad because the Secretary of State for Defence ought to have come to Parliament to explain."

But the Ministry of Defence insisted there had been no move to deploy more British troops.

An MoD spokesman said: "No decision has been made to deploy the 2nd battalion of the Princess of Wales's Regiment to Iraq."

The battalion was put on "very high readiness reserve" as of November 1, which means they can be deployed at ten days' notice.

The official added: "Being at very high readiness reserve does not mean that any decision has been taken for such a deployment to take place."

Sixteen Americans have been killed in the past two days across Iraq - including three killed in Fallujah yesterday - most of them as guerrillas launched a wave of attacks in Baghdad and south-west of Fallujah.

The 11 deaths on Monday were the highest one day US toll in more than six months.

As fighting raged in Fallujah, Prime Minister Iyad Allawi declared a night-time curfew in Baghdad and its surroundings - the first curfew in the capital for a year - a day after a string of insurgent attacks in the city killed nine Iraqis and wounded more than 80.

Anger over the assault on the mainly Sunni Muslim city of Fallujah grew among Iraq's Sunni minority. International concerns also grew, with warnings that the military action could undermine Iraqi elections in January and the UN refugee agency expressing fears over civilians' safety.

The news of the rumoured deployment of the Princess of Wales's Regiment came as the latest Black Watch soldier to be killed in Iraq was named as Private Pita Tukutukuwaqa of the 1st Battalion.

The 27-year-old married soldier died on Monday when his Warrior armoured vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb north of their Camp Dogwood base, south of Baghdad.

Two other soldiers from the Scots battle group were injured in the blast.

Pte Tukutukuwaqa came from Fiji and was described by colleagues as a trained sniper and outstanding sportsman.

The latest death follows those of Black Watch soldiers Private Paul Lowe, Sergeant Stuart Gray and Private Scott McArdle, all from Fife, in a suicide bomb attack in the notorious "triangle of death" last Thursday.

The MoD confirmed the bodies of the three men will be flown to Brize Norton in Oxfordshire today, where their homecoming will be held in private.

Followers of terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, responsible for beheading kidnapped Briton Ken Bigley, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Two of the regiment's bomb disposal experts were also seriously injured in a suicide car bomb attack on Sunday.

Prime Minister Tony Blair's official spokesman refused to be drawn on reports that the Black Watch is considering changing its tactics in light of the attacks.

He added: "As in any deployment, they are obviously reviewing the way they are operating on a day-to-day basis.

"That's entirely sensible, and it's equally entirely sensible that we leave that to them and not get involved - and we won't."

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