Army U-Turn After Growing Fears for Harry

PRINCE Harry will not go to Iraq with his regiment following “specific threats” to target him by insurgents fighting British and US forces, the head of the Army said last night.General Sir Richard Dannatt said that his presence in Iraq would expose the 22-year-old Prince and the troops serving with him to “a degree of risk that I now deem unacceptable”.In a statement, Clarence House admitted that the Prince was “very disappointed” that he would not be going with his squadron in the Household Cavalry, although a spokesman insisted that he would not quit the Army.Nevertheless, the decision is likely to throw his long-term military career into doubt.Meanwhile, some opposition MPs expressed concern that the decision not to deploy the Prince – less than three weeks after Gen Dannatt said that he would be going – risked handing a propaganda victory to the insurgents.Gen Dannatt said that he had finally reached the decision that the risks were too great after visiting Iraq at the end of last week.”There have been a number of specific threats – some reported and some not reported – which relate directly to Prince Harry as an individual.”These threats expose not only him but those around him to a degree of risk that I now deem unacceptable, ” he said.He added: “Although the soldiers in his squadron and battlegroup are willing to share those risks with him, I am not prepared to export those risks to their families.”Gen Dannatt acknowledged that “recent episodes”, including the apparent kidnap of three US soldiers who disappeared on Saturday following an ambush to the south of the capital Baghdad, had influenced his decision.A number of leading insurgents have claimed in recent weeks that they had detailed plans to seize the Prince as hostage, even boasting that they had informants in the British camps who would tell them of his movements.Abu Zaid, a brigade commander in Moqtada al-Sadr’s Mehdi Army -the most powerful of the Shia militias – said they had been circulating pictures of the Prince taken from the internet to other insurgent groups.”We are awaiting the arrival of the young, handsome, spoilt prince with bated breath and we confidently expect he will come out into the open on the battlefield, ” he was quoted as saying.”We will be generous with him.For we will return him to his grandmother (the Queen), but without ears.”Gen Dannatt said that the threat to the Prince had been exacerbated by the “widespread discussion and knowledge” of his planned deployment as a troop leader commanding a squadron of Scimitar armoured reconnaissance vehicles.He refused to “rule in or rule out” the possibility that the Prince could still go to Iraq at some point, while making clear that he would prefer to avoid publicity about any future deployments involving the Prince.Reg Keys, whose son, Thomas, was killed in 2003 when his Royal Military Police unit was surrounded by a mob in Maysan province, expressed his distaste at the decision. “It would appear that Harry’s life is more valuable than my son or the other nearly 150 service personnel who’ve given their lives, ” he said.

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