LONDON, Jan. 8 (Xinhuanet) -- The British government is expected to announce this week that it is sending 650 more troops to Iraq to bolster security ahead of the Jan. 30 elections, the Sunday Telegraph reported Saturday.

    A 650-strong battalion from the Royal Highland Fusiliers, currently based in Cyprus as a designated Iraq reserve force, willbe dispatched to Iraq, boosting British troops in the country to just over 9,000, said the newspaper, citing an unnamed senior armyofficer as saying.

    The deployment could be announced by the government as soon as Monday when parliament returns from its Christmas break, it said.

    The additional troops will be based in the relatively peaceful south of the country, around Basra, where the bulk of Britain's 8,500 existing troops are stationed, but they could be moved to moredangerous areas nearer Baghdad if needed.

    Washington has already swelled US forces in Iraq by 12,000 to 150,000 in an effort to booster security for the coming elections. Enditem