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LONDON - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates held talks with British leaders that were expected to take up their plans to reduce British forces in Iraq and discuss whether more troops were needed in Afghanistan.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates, pictured 11 January 2006, held talks with British leaders that were expected to take up their plans to reduce British forces in Iraq and discuss whether more troops were needed in Afghanistan.[AFP]

The new US defence chief met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and then held further talks with British Defence Secretary Des Browne at the start of a trip that will take him to Afghanistan.

Gates and Browne reaffirmed the importance of the US-British security relationship during a break in the talks but said little of substance about their discussions.

"We had a good conversation about Iraq, and I look forward to talking further about Afghanistan today," Gates said, calling Britain "our most important international partner in both Iraq and Afghanistan."

He conveyed his sympathies to the families of two British soldiers killed over the weekend, one in southern Iraq and the other by small arms fire in Afghanistan.

Gates told reporters on his flight to London that a top priority "is to make sure we preserve the gains we've achieved in Afghanistan and to talk about the way forward in Iraq."

Blair last week said a US plan to send more than 20,000 additional US troops to Iraq "made sense," but other members of his government have said that does not also imply a change in direction for Britain.

Browne has said Britain plans to reduce its 7,000 troops in Iraq in the coming months.

A senior US defence official said Britain may be considering sending more troops to Afghanistan, however.

The United States believe the Taliban will try to build on their offensive of last year, the biggest and bloodiest since their ouster in late 2001.

"We have information they are planning a spring offensive. We want to make sure we are prepared to take that on... and perhaps deal them a further setback," said the official.

Gates also wants to find out from commanders on the ground in Afghanistan "whether they have the resources they need," he said.

The United States has about 22,000 troops in Afghanistan, about half of them with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force which is taking over responsibility for security throughout the country.

There are more than 33,000 ISAF soldiers in Afghanistan, about a third of them in the south, which is the heartland of the Islamist Taliban movement and sees most insurgency-linked violence.

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