British warships are gathering in the Persian Gulf

Associated Press

ISMAILIYA, Egypt — Twelve warships and a submarine passed through the Suez Canal Saturday in a steady buildup of British forces in the Persian Gulf ahead of two-week war games with Oman set for mid-October.

Britain has offered to contribute to a military force that the United States is assembling for a campaign against terrorists, but says these war games are not directly related to that campaign.

The British fleet included 12 ships and one submarine, the HMS Superb.

A total of 25 ships are expected to be deployed in the region, in addition to ground troops and warplanes. It is the biggest deployment of Royal Navy ships since the 1982 Falklands War.

Some 14,000 Omani soldiers and 24,000 British soldiers are expected to participate in the exercises, which will be held 261 miles south of the capital, Muscat.

Troops from both nations will practice quick deployment of air, land and sea forces, Omani officials have said.

A British frigate, the HMS Cornwall, passed through the Suez Canal Friday on its way to the Gulf, the first passage by a western warship since last week’s attacks in New York and Washington, D.C.

Security was tight at the canal crossing, with police boats escorting the British ships along the way.

In the wake of the Sept. 11 suicide attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the United States has ordered the deployment of up to 130 warplanes and about 2,000 Marines to the Gulf. A naval battle group led by the carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt left the United States on Wednesday bound for the Mediterranean.