Pentagon chief in UK, discusses Iraq, Afghanistan

LONDON, Jan 15 (Reuters) US Defense Secretary Robert Gates arrived in London for talks with top British officials on Iraq policy and ways to thwart any new offensive by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Gates' trip comes four days after US President George W Bush said he would increase the number of US troops in Iraq from about 130,000 to more than 150,000 as part of a new plan to tackle spiralling sectarian violence and insurgent attacks.

Gates, on his first visit to Britain since taking office last month, was due to hold talks with Prime Minister Tony Blair and Defence Minister Des Browne.

Gates is keen to discuss Afghanistan. US officials say they have information suggesting Taliban Islamist militants are planning a campaign to build on their resurgence last year.

''My first priority is making sure that we preserve the gains that we've achieved in Afghanistan and then talking about the way forward in Iraq,'' Gates told reporters on his plane to London.

Britain, America's closest ally in the Iraq war, has said it supports Bush's new Iraq plan. But it does not plan to add to its contingent of some 7,100 troops in Iraq, based in the Shi'ite-dominated south.

London plans to reduce its force presence in Iraq by ''a matter of thousands'' this year, Browne has said.

SUSTAIN GAINS British and US troops also form part of a NATO-led force in Afghanistan battling resurgent Taliban militants and Gates expressed concern on Friday about the situation there.

He said he would visit the country in the next few days, seeking ways to strengthen President Hamid Karzai's government.

Last year was the bloodiest in Afghanistan since US-led forces overthrew the Taliban government in response to the Sept.

11 attacks on the United States. More than 4,000 people died in the violence.

''What do we need to do to sustain the gains that we've enjoyed? How can we prevent the Taliban from coming back? We have some information that they are planning a spring offensive,'' a senior US defence official said yesterday.

The Pentagon chief will ask military commanders when he visits Afghanistan whether they have adequate troops and other resources to counter any offensive, the official said.

Fighting in Afghanistan often subsides in winter months only to resume when the snows melt.

''Although the Taliban suffered some real setbacks in 2006 ... there was a higher level of activity and a higher level of violence and they want to try and build on that. We want to make sure they don't,'' the official said.

The United States has around 20,000 troops in Afghanistan, Britain has some 5,000.

Bush asked Gates, a former CIA chief, to replace Donald Rumsfeld after the president's Republican party lost control of the US Congress in November elections. The defeat was driven in large measure by voter anger over the Iraq war.

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