May 2 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K. is set to send as many as 4,000 extra soldiers to secure the Iraqi city of Najaf in the biggest expansion of British forces in the country since the beginning of the war, the Sunday Telegraph said.

Soldiers from the Royal Marines, a Parachute Regiment and an infantry battalion will start arriving in the city in the next few weeks to fill the gap left by 1,300 Spanish soldiers who left the country last week, the paper said.

The deployment of troops to Najaf risks extensive casualties, the newspaper said. Najaf is where Moqtada al-Sadr, a Shia cleric, has established a 3,000-strong militia whose members are opposed to the occupation of Iraq, the paper said.

U.K. Prime Minister Tony Blair declined to comment on the report. ``In respect of troops in Iraq, I'm afraid I can't really add to anything I've said before,'' Blair told reporters in Dublin following a meeting with Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern. ``I mean we keep the situation under review, but don't take that as an indication either way.''

(Sunday Telegraph, 5-2 5)

To contact the reporter on this story: Rebecca Barr in London at rbarr1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 2, 2004 06:54 EDT