Iraqi interpreters 'can settle in UK'

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The Times newspaper reported that Prime Minister Gordon Brown would announce the change of policy next week, following a review over the summer.

Foreign Office officials confirmed that an announcement was imminent, but insisted the review was continuing.

According to the newspaper, the move would apply to interpreters who have worked for the British government for 12 months as well as those who have subsequently left, plus "a few hundred vital support staff".

Others that wanted to would be helped to resettle elsewhere in Iraq or in neighbouring countries, it said.

Mr Brown vowed in August to "look again" at the issue after 91 individuals and their families were told they would not be given special treatment despite facing retribution from militants hostile to the British presence.

Whitehall officials were said to have ignored personal appeals from senior army officers that the rules be relaxed in recognition of the interpreters' contribution to operations in Iraq.

The Home Office has said the total number of Iraqis who have worked for the UK since 2003 with a claim to assistance could be at least 15,000.