Debate rages over Prince Harry going to Iraq

LONDON, Apr 30 (Reuters) Will Prince Harry go to Iraq or should he stay at home? Debate is raging in Britain over whether Harry, third in line to the throne, should be deployed to a conflict in which 11 British soldiers have died this month.

Iraqi militias have threatened to kidnap or kill the 22-year-old soldier, according to British media reports which agree his capture would be a priceless propaganda coup.

The prince is due to head to Iraq with his A Squadron of the Blues and Royals Regiment in the coming weeks as part of the latest British troop rotation.

Harry has said he put himself through the elite Sandhurst military academy because he wanted to serve on the frontline, and reports say he may quit the army if confined to a desk job.

In Iraq he would patrol the desert in a Scimitar light reconnaissance tank. Among the 11 British soldiers killed in Iraq this month, the deadliest month since March 2003, were two in a Scimitar blown up by a roadside bomb.

''Prince Harry's deployment in Iraq, as we have always said, is under constant consideration,'' a Defence Ministry spokesman said today. ''Our position hasn't changed on that.'' But newspapers are awash with speculation about Harry's deployment. He was front page news at the weekend with photos of him and girlfriend Chelsy at a London nightclub attending what was billed as a ''Harry goes to Iraq'' farewell party.

Queen Elizabeth, whose son Andrew saw frontline duty as a helicopter pilot in the 1982 Falklands War, is said to be supportive of Harry's desire to see frontline service.

But the deployment has deeply divided opinion with some fearing Harry's presence could expose the troops under his command to greater risk.

''I think he should go. It is a no-win situation either way with the insurgents,'' defence analyst Charles Heyman, editor of Armed Forces of the United Kingdom, told Reuters.

''Another reason is the morale of soldiers on the ground. They expect him to go and ask is his life more valuable than theirs? ''Harry himself has trained as a soldier -- that is his career path and if you don't send him, he will have no credibility whatsoever. It will destroy him.'' But royal biographer Robert Lacey said in The Observer newspaper: ''It's clear he is a celebrity target. His capture or death would be an enormous victory for the enemy and setback for Britain.

''In the age of celebrity culture, one also has celebrity warfare.'' REUTERS KK PM1603