Australia adds troops to Iraq deployment

CANBERRA, Sep 4 (Reuters) Australia announced today a small boost to its troop deployment in Iraq to reflect its changing role and to make it more mobile as it supports Iraqi forces with border patrols in the south.

Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said the deployment of another 38 troops was not a sign that Australia believed security in Iraq was deteriorating, or that Iraq was headed towards civil war.

Defence Force commander Angus Houston described the additional troops and equipment as ''fine tuning'' due to the changed role of Australian forces in southern Iraq.

The extra soldiers will join a 450-strong task force in southern Iraq, which had previously protected Japanese engineers but who now provide security, training and support for Iraqi forces.

''The task has changed. We are covering the al Muthanna province itself. It is a mobile force that is required to provide patrols, quite extensive patrols, and also mentoring and support for the Iraqi provincial authorities,'' Nelson told reporters.

Australia has about 1,400 defence personnel in and around Iraq.

The extra deployment is a tiny fraction compared with the 140,000 US troops in Iraq but will add pressure to a much smaller Australian Defence Force already stretched by deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan, East Timor and the Solomon Islands.

Australia will also send four more armoured ''Bushmaster'' vehicles, taking the number of personnel carriers to 19, to help with mobile patrols from their base in Tallil.

''Essentially, this is fine-tuning. It reflects the fact we have to continually move to do the job,'' Houston told reporters.

Australia, a staunch US ally, was one of the first nations to join the US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Reuters KR VP0940