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UK to open its biggest Middle East embassy in Baghdad

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, Feb 27, IRNA -- Britain was reported Friday to be preparing 
to open its biggest embassy in the Middle East in Iraq and plans to 
have the new mission ready for diplomats, soldiers and other 
officials when the US-led occupation hands over power on July 1. 
The British move follows plans by Washington to build what has 
been described as the largest US embassy in the world in Baghdad with 
a projected staff of 3,000. 
Although the UK embassy plans to accommodate 200 staff are much 
less grandeur than the US, according to the Times newspaper, it is 
one of the most ambitious projects recently undertaken by the Foreign 
Office in London. 
Security was said to be foremost in the planning for the 
estimated 60 British officials, who will serve in the embassy. Most 
are diplomats with also experts from other government departments, who
are expected to continue to working as advisers in Iraqi ministries. 
The Times said that the building was likely to be situated well 
away from any public road and suggested that a 200 metre buffer was 
the minimum needed to protect it against car or truck bombs. 
After the war, Britain reopened an office in its elegant Ottoman- 
era embassy building on the banks of the Tigris, but this was 
evacuated in August because of security fears. 
Most of the British have since been housed in a villa belonging 
to Saddam Hussein`s first wife Sajida inside the heavily fortified 
area of central Baghdad reserved for American, British and other 
coalition staff. 
According to the Times, one possible location for the British 
Embassy was a former airfield, which Saddam Hussein initially planned 
as the site of the world`s biggest mosque. 
HC/214 
End