The British Government will announce details of the first deployment of British troops in Afghanistan later today when the Armed Forces Minister, Mr Adam Ingram, addresses the House of Commons.
Mr Ingram is expected to tell MPs that a force of commandos, perhaps less than 500 soldiers, will join US troops in the next phase of the military campaign inside Afghanistan after the British military exercise "Saif Sareea" ends in Oman at the weekend. The soldiers, who could be drawn from the Royal Marines or Parachute Regiment, are experts in "winter warfare" and are likely to be stationed on warships off Oman.
With the Defence Secretary, Mr Geoff Hoon, travelling to Oman last night to meet some of the 20,000 British troops taking part in the exercise, the spokesman for the Prime Minister, Mr Blair, said detailed discussions between military planners would "conclude soon" paving the way for the next phase of the campaign.
The spokesman told reporters details about British troop deployment would be announced "very soon", as the Prime Minister attempted to shore up Muslim opinion in Britain by calling on people of all religions to unite against terrorism. Mr Blair told the Islamic Response to Terrorism Conference in London that he wanted military action in Afghanistan to end as quickly as possible.
The military action was not a war against Islam, he said, but he insisted it was vital to "take the action necessary" to hold to account those responsible for the September 11th terrorist attacks on the US.
"What must come out of it is something hopeful and I think it is possible, I really do, maybe it is an innate optimism that I have, but the human spirit only exists in the end by being optimistic about the future," he said.
Mr Blair went on to repeat his condemnation of racist attacks against Muslims living in Britain saying such attacks were "totally contrary to everything we believe in" and he again pitched a "just settlement" in the Middle East as central to the campaign against terrorism.
Mr Blair said: "We need to make sure that we have a situation in which Israelis and Palestinians can live side by side in justice and peace, each in their own state, where security is guaranteed and justice for all is guaranteed." Earlier, Mr Blair indicated in an interview with the Daily Telegraph that the death of Osama bin Laden was the likely outcome of the military campaign in Afghanistan.