Fed: Hill says it's crunch time as more troops prepare to deploy

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Fed: Hill says it's crunch time as more troops prepare to deploy

By Sharon Mathieson

CANBERRA, Feb 1 AAP - The federal government today declared crunch time for a war onIraq was fast approaching as another 440 Australian troops prepared to deploy to the PersianGulf for a possible attack.

A squadron of 14 F/A-18 Hornet fighter planes, three C-130 Hercules transport planesand an Air Forward Command Element will leave Australia within a fortnight.

Making the announcement in Adelaide, Defence Minister Robert Hill said Australia'scommitment of more than 2,000 troops to the Gulf region would cost taxpayers several hundredsof millions of dollars.

But he maintained the government had not committed to an attack on Iraq.

"The purpose of the pre-deployment ... is to attempt to apply maximum pressure upon(Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein to comply with the Security Council resolutions to disarmpeacefully," Senator Hill said.

"And also to ensure that our force elements are properly prepared in the region ...

in the event that the government makes a subsequent decision that it is necessary thatthey be part of a coalition force."

HMAS Kanimbla, with about 350 personnel aboard, left Sydney for the Persian Gulf lastmonth while SAS troops and a small RAAF reconnaissance team were already in the MiddleEast.

Senator Hill said specialist troops to deal with weapons of mass destruction, ChinookCH-47 troop-lift helicopters, a quick reaction support force and a navy clearance diveteam were on standby for deployment.

He said he expected the United Nations Security Council to make a decision on militaryaction in Iraq soon after it received another report from chief UN weapons inspector HansBlix on February 14.

"It is coming to crunch time," Senator Hill said.

"I don't think there's any doubt about that.

"Saddam Hussein has got to understand that this is not going to go on forever."

Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said he believed the UN would authorise an attackon Iraq if Mr Blix's next report said Iraq had continued to defy international demandsto disarm.

"If there isn't a fairly rapid turnaround in the Iraqi position towards the inspections,I think there is actually a reasonable chance of a resolution going through the SecurityCouncil," he said.

"I think there is a good chance of that."

Opposition Leader Simon Crean called on Prime Minister John Howard to defer the latestdispatch of troops and wait for a UN decision.

"The Prime Minister has made a commitment to (US President) George Bush to do whateverGeorge Bush asks," he said.

"But he won't own up to the Australian people."

The Australian Democrats said the government had locked itself into war, regardlessof whether the UN sanctioned military action.

"It makes it more impossible for Australia to extricate itself out of the Gulf if theUS goes to war," Democrats Leader Andrew Bartlett said.

Senator Hill denied Australia had been pressured by the US into sending troops.

AAP sm/cjh/ts

KEYWORD: IRAQ AUST NIGHTLEAD (WITH FACTBOX)