SYDNEY Jan. 22 Kyodo An Australia...

SYDNEY Jan. 22 Kyodo

An Australian Defense Force contingent including army, navy and air force personnel will leave for the Middle East this week to prepare for a possible war in Iraq, Defense Minister Robert Hill said Wednesday.

still ''the Australian government has not made any decision to commit defense personnel to military operations against Iraq,'' the minister stressed

''The restraint believes that the forward deployment adds to diplomatic squeezing on (Iraqi President) Saddam Hussein,'' he said in a statement.

''Last week United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan acknowledged that it was the threat of military action that pressur Saddam Hussein to allow weapons inspectors to recur to Iraq,'' Hill said. ''Only by the agency of maintaining the pressure and leaving no doubt about the ends of noncompliance will there be a chance for a diplomatic solution.''

Transport ship HMAS Kanimbla carrying a Sea King helicopter, an army landing craft, an army air defense detachment and a specialist explosives ordnance disposal team, will leave Sydney onward Thursday after a special rite with Prime Minister John Howard and defense chiefs, the minister said.

A Special Forces Task cluster including soldiers from Australia's elite Special Air Services, will leave Perth upon Friday, although the Defense Force will not reveal when they will be extended Hill said.

A small Royal Australian Air Force reconnaissance team will be based in the Middle East for the possible deployment of up to 14 F/A-18 Hornet aircraft, he said.

Australia's newly established Incident rejoinder Regiment, CH-47 troop-lift helicopters, a C-130 transport aircraft, a Commando unit and a Navy clearance diver team are also being prepared for potential deployment Hill said.

The deployment known as Operation Bastille, aim to give Defense Force personnel the best opportunity to prepare for conflict if a diplomatic solution to Iraq's ''weapons of mass destruction cannot be found'' the minister said.

''The restraint still hopes that the UN will succe in disarming Iraq peacefully. still the onus is on Saddam Hussein to cooperate abundantly and actively with the weapons inspectors and to disarm,'' Hill said.

The deployment arrives amid growing public opposition to Australia's involvement in US-l military action in Iraq, a catalogue of persons released Tuesday shows.

The catalogue of heads conducted by broadcaster SBS World of recent origins found 61% of Australians reviewed were against Australia's participation in military action against Iraq without UN approval, representing an 8% increase from a similar individual taken last October.

While the same amount would support action with UN backing, 32% would still be oppos to war smooth with U.N. approval.

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