Prince Harry to Be Pulled From Afghanistan
Source: CBC News
Posted: 02/29/08 3:13PM
Filed Under: World
Prince Harry will immediately be withdrawn from Afghanistan after news leaked out that he has been serving on the front lines since December, Britain's Defence Ministry said Friday.
Harry on the Front Lines |
Britain's Prince Harry is seen shortly after his return from active duty in Afghanistan, as his father Prince Charles and his brother Prince William, center background, escort him as he leaves the Royal Air Force's Brize Norton air base in Oxfordshire, southern England, Saturday, March 1. AP |
 1 of 7
PHOTOS |
The prince has been serving in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province for 10 weeks.
Chief of Defence Staff Sir Jock Stirrup, Gen. Richard Dannatt, head of the British army and senior commanders had been weighing the safety issues surrounding Harry, who could become a target for Taliban insurgents now that his deployment has been made public. There are also fears his regiment could be put at risk.
The prince, third in line to the British throne, was to have remained in Afghanistan until mid-April. But those plans were scuttled after news of his tour was leaked by an Australian magazine and a German newspaper, as well as the U.S. news site Drudge Report.
Following the leak, the Ministry of Defence confirmed Harry was in Afghanistan. His duties have included serving as an air controller, co-ordinating pilots and forces on the ground and calling in air strikes on Taliban fighters. His military base has come under mortar and machine gun attack five times every day, the Daily Telegraph reported.
British media had entered into a voluntary agreement with the Ministry of Defence to keep his deployment secret and only report on his service after his tour of duty ended. As part of the deal, journalists were allowed to observe Harry on the battlefield and interview the 23-year-old prince.
Dannatt expressed his disappointment that foreign websites decided to break the news blackout.
Most British soldiers are deployed in Helmand province, next to Kandahar province, where roughly 2,500 Canadian soldiers are deployed.
Harry, a lieutenant in the Blues and Royals regiment, is the first member of the British Royal Family to serve in a war zone since his uncle, Prince Andrew, served as a helicopter pilot in Britain's conflict with Argentina over the Falkland Islands in 1982.
79 %
21 %
