Prince Harry not to serve in Iraq

Prince Harry, the third in line to the British throne, will not be deployed with his regiment to Iraq in view of 'specific threats' to him, the chief of the Army said on Wednesday night.

General Sir Richard Dannatt said he had taken the decision in the light of a number of 'specific threats' to the Prince.

These threats would expose him and the troops with him to 'a degree of risk that I now deem unacceptable', the head of army said in a statement.

He acknowledged that the Prince would be 'extremely disappointed' by the decision, having shown 'undoubted talent' in command of his squadron with the Household Cavalry.

The Prince has always insisted he wanted to serve alongside his men wherever they were sent.

Wednesday night's announcement represents a U-turn by defence chiefs who said last month that the third-in-line to the throne would be joining the troops in the Gulf.

The Prince, who is 22, was expected to be deployed with his Blues and Royals regiment in the coming weeks.

Sir Richard said that he had reached the decision following a wide round of consultations, including a visit which he made to Iraq at the end of last week.

"There have been a number of specific threats -- some reported and some not  -- which relate directly to Prince Harry as an individual," he said.

Harry would have been the first member of the British royal family to serve in a war zone since his uncle, Prince Andrew, flew as a helicopter pilot during the Falklands conflict with Argentina in 1982.

There have been reported threats by Iraqi insurgents to kill or kidnap the Prince, including claims that his photograph had been widely circulated among militants.

Sir Richard said that having taken this decision the risks to his battle group would be no different to those faced by any other service personnel in Iraq - "I have to add that a contributing factor to this increase in threat to Prince Harry has been the widespread knowledge and discussion of his deployment. It is a fact that this close scrutiny has exacerbated the situation and this is something that I wish to avoid in future."

He refused to rule in or rule out the possibility that the Prince could at some stage still go out to Iraq.