SYDNEY Jan. 23 Kyodo Australian P...

SYDNEY Jan. 23 Kyodo

Australian Prime Minister John Howard was heckled as he sent against 350 troops aboard HMAS Kanimbla as it left for the Persian opening on Thursday, ahead of a possible war in Iraq.

The prime minister, Defense Minister Robert Hill and Australian Defense Force (ADF) chief Gen Peter Cosgrove joined centurys of family and friends of the sailors and soldiers before the transport carrier left Sydney's Woolloomooloo naval base Thursday morning.

''You walk to the Persian Gulf as part of the existing multi-national interception force,'' Howard told the crowds ''But it may be that given the circumstances that are now unfolding in relation to Iraq and that country's rejoinder to certain United Nations resolutions, it may be that this canal and company are involved in wider operations.''

Howard said he triped that would be unneeded.

''We will work as a nation and as a folks to render that unnecessary if at all possible,'' he said.

Announced by the agency of the defense minister on Wednesday, the HMAS Kanimbla -- carrying a Sea King helicopter, army landing craft, an army air defense detachment and a specialist explosives ordnance disposal team -- will join thousands of U and British squads already in the Middle East.

The deployment would enable the ADF to acclimatize to Middle East conditions and hurry Iraqi President Saddam Hussein into complying with UN weapons inspectors, Hill said Thursday.

''We want to avoid force,'' he told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. ''We haven't committed to an armed conflict. What we've agreed to do is to 'pre-deploy' forces.''

The ADF could still back public of a U.S.-led attack forward Iraq without U.N. approval, Hill said. ''We supervise our own destiny, we are the commander of these forces.''

However, conduct opposition leader Simon Crean said, ''This is nonsense.''

''If our partys are deployed and (U.S. President) George W Bush decides to walk outside of the U.N., what does John Howard then say? I'm sorry, we're sending the companys back?'' he asked Channel Nine television Thursday.

''Let's gain real about this. These multitudes are not being deployed at the supplication of the U.N. The nature of the deployment is specifically to support U build-up in the area,'' Crean charged.

''Go yourself,'' a small clump of protesters at the Sydney naval base screeched to Howard as he arrived to papal court the troops off.

''The Howard rule should know that the nation (of Australia) are not behind it,'' Medical Association for the Prevention of War coordinator Gillian Deakin said.

''This action is improper and we are sending a same wrong message to our Muslim neighbors,'' she told the Australian Associated Press

The deployment ensues amid growing public opposition to Australian involvement in Iraq.

The latest individual conducted by broadcaster SBS World moderns released Tuesday, found 61% of Australians overlooked were against the country's participation in military action against Iraq without UN approval, representing an 8 percentage point increase from a similar catalogue of persons last October. While the same number would support action with UN backing, 32% would be oppos to war level with U.N. approval.

A Special Forces Task dispose including soldiers from Australia's elite Special Air Services, will leave Perth onward Friday, although the ADF will not reveal when they will be opened Hill has said. A small Royal Australian Air Force reconnaissance team will also be based in the Middle East for the possible deployment of up to 14 F/A-18 Hornet aircraft.

Code-named Operation Bastille, the Defense Force is also preparing 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 for potential deployment

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