Britain on Friday decided to pull Prince Harry immediately out of war-torn Afghanistan after details of his secret deployment on the front line in the military campaign against Taliban was leaked.
Military chiefs were on Friday making final preparations to remove the Prince, the third in line for the British throne, from the front line and fly him back to Britain.
The 23-year-old royal, who spent the last 10 weeks serving in Helmand Province, is expected back home by the weekend after the logistics of transporting him out of the war zone are hammered out.
The move follows fears that Harry could become a target for Taliban fighters in the region now the news blackout on his deployment has been broken on the US website, Drudge Report.
In a statement, the Ministry of Defence described the reporting of Harry's deployment by foreign media as 'regrettable', but added that contingency plans for such a leak were in place.
It said that while Harry should have returned 'in a matter of weeks' with his Household Cavalry
regiment battlegroup, the situation had now 'clearly changed'.
Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, in consultation with head of the Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, had taken the final decision to withdraw Harry immediately, the statement said.
'The decision has been taken primarily on the basis that the worldwide media coverage of Prince Harry in Afghanistan could impact on the security of those who are deployed there, as well as the risks to him as an individual soldier,' it said.
In an interview last week, Harry conceded that on his return to the UK, he could be a 'top target' for home-grown jihadis sympathetic to the Taliban.
'Once this... comes out, every single person that supports them will be trying to slot me,' he said.
The Prince's deployment had been cloaked in secrecy under a news blackout deal agreed across the UK media to prevent details reaching the Taliban and endangering Harry and his comrades.
But the arrangement broke down on Thursday after the news was leaked out on a US website.
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