Around 90 Iraqis who have worked for British armed forces had been warned they and their families would not win fast-tracked residency rights, despite the dangers faced by locals assisting coalition troops.

But Defense Secretary Des Browne said Wednesday the government was examining again its policy over the interpreters and other civilian workers.

The European Council of Refugees and Exiles warned in June that Iraqis working alongside coalition forces are particularly vulnerable to being targeted by insurgents and militia groups.

"I think people have to understand the scale and complexity of this issue," Browne told British Broadcasting Corp. radio, saying around 20,000 Iraqis had worked for British troops since the start of the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.

"We will move at the appropriate pace to get this policy right, in relation to our duty of care to all of those who we have a responsibility to," Browne said.

Britain had previously rejected appeals for preferential treatment by civilian workers, many backed with letters of support from senior army officers.

Britain granted asylum outright to about 100 Iraqi individuals and families between 2003 and 2005, the latest year for which statistics are available, the Home Office said.

Around 2,500 Iraqis who were not recognized as refugees were allowed to stay in the country on a temporary basis, government statistics show.

But the initial refusal rate for applications from Iraq in 2005 was 91 percent, though the number accepted may have risen after appeals.

The Home Office said it could not provide figures for the number of Iraqis who had worked alongside the military who had been granted asylum.

"We are extremely grateful for the service of locally employed staff in Iraq and take their security very seriously," said a government spokeswoman, speaking on customary condition of anonymity. "We recognize that there are concerns about the safety of former employees."

Opposition Conservative foreign affairs spokesman William Hague was it was unacceptable to abandon the interpreters.

"As a matter of honor, we have to look after them one way or the other if they have a genuine case," he said.

The United States has promised to take in nearly 7,000 local workers from later this year and has admitted around 800 Iraqis since the start of the war.

Denmark's government said in June it would offer visas to those who wanted to apply for asylum and that the claims would likely to be approved.

It granted asylum to around 60 Iraqi staff and their families last month after evacuating 200 people on three flights from Basra.

Spain, which withdrew from Iraq in 2004, offered asylum to dozens of Iraqis who helped Spanish troops or diplomats. Poland has also pledged to help local civilian workers when it withdraws troops from Iraq.

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