LONDON: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown is set to announce that Iraqi interpreters working for the British army will be given the opportunity of asylum here, newspapers reported on Saturday.
The offer to interpreters and their families, who face threats because of their work with the British, will apply to those who have worked with them for a year.
Brown is due to make a statement on Iraq to lawmakers in the House of Commons on Monday and is expected to confirm the move then.
"The prime minister is convinced this is the right thing to do," an unnamed senior diplomatic source told the Sun newspaper, which carried the story.
"We owe these brave men and their families a huge debt. They should be treated appropriately. It is our duty."
Britain's Home Office has said that up to 15,000 Iraqis could claim assistance.
There is increasing evidence of a campaign by militants who want to target people they see as collaborators as some British troops prepare to leave the war-torn country, said the Times, another paper reporting the move.
It added that the move would also apply to "a few hundred vital support staff".
Brown pledged to review the issue in August after 91 workers and their families were told they would not get special treatment despite the threat of violence from militants.
He announced this week that Britain planned to reduce its military presence in Iraq by 1,000 to 4,500 by Christmas and to hand over responsibility for Basra province to Iraqi control within two months.
Britain will also reportedly give cash assistance to interpreters wanting to move to other countries like Kuwait and Jordan.
