Iraq has denied that British Forces have occupied the southern oil port of Um al-Qasr and Defense Minister Geoff Hoon said that while the allied push north was meeting stiff opposition in some places, and Iraq had set ablaze up to 30 oil wells, several strategic points had been captured. News of the casualties briefly depressed the pound early on Friday.

Newspapers meanwhile rallied behind British Prime Minister, Tony Blair but although public opinion against the war appears to be softening, more street protests were expected in the run-up to a major rally on Saturday.

Campaign Working Differently

"This is a campaign that is inevitably...working out slightly differently from the plans that were drawn up initially," Hoon told the BBC.

"But nevertheless it is going extremely well. Allied forces are pushing north on at least two fronts now."

"Our forces are in fact already facing some stern resistance around Umm Qasr as I speak. The Iraqis are not simply giving up in the way some commentators suggested that they would."

BLAIR'S UNITY APPEAL

Blair returns on Friday after what Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said had been difficult discussions at a European summit.

Relations with France especially have plumbed new depths due to French President Jacques Chirac's opposition to the war.

PHOTO CAPTION

British soldiers from test their weapons on board a warship stationed in the Gulf March 20, 2003. (Paul Grover/Reuters)