Conservative calls for the immediate withdrawal of British troops from Sierra Leone were denounced by the Foreign Office Minister, Mr Peter Hain, as "beneath contempt" and giving a "green light" to the African country's terrorists and hostage-takers.
As paratroopers involved in Sunday's daring dawn raid which freed six members of the Royal Irish Regiment from captivity flew home, the Foreign Secretary, Mr Robin Cook, insisted British military operations in the country would continue.
And while the Defence Secretary, Mr Geoff Hoon, suggested Britain's involvement in Sierra Leone might last just six more weeks, he also said extra troops could be sent out if they were deemed necessary to ensure the safety of soldiers there.
The apparent breakdown in the conventional all-party consensus about troops abroad followed Mr Iain Duncan Smith's assertion that "a failure of Robin Cook's policy" had encouraged the United Nations to assume they could "rely consistently on British efforts".
The Conservative defence spokesman told the BBC that the estimated 300 troops currently involved in training duties in Sierra Leone could not remain without reinforcement.
"We either now take the decision to withdraw British troops, which I would favour, and tell the UN to get on with the job they were told to do in the first place - or else we decide, if we put British troops in, they have got to be properly protected," declared Mr Duncan Smith.
"As long as British troops are hanging around, it seems to me that the UN think they can rely on British efforts. It really is a failure of Robin Cook's policy that he is meandering on this." Denouncing this intervention, Mr Hain declared: "To seek to derail the policy would be giving the green light to hostage-takers and to murderous, barbaric rebels, who could come back in Sierra Leone without the kind of policies we are energetically pursuing. It would be turning our back on our friends.
"To have Britain slink away from Sierra Leone with our tail between our legs, as Tories want, would drag Britain's good name through the mud - especially in Africa, which has felt isolated and neglected by the international community."
Before flying to New York for talks with the UN Secretary General, Mr Kofi Annan, Mr Cook joined the attack on the Tories. "I cannot think of anything more dangerous for our troops in Sierra Leone than to encourage the rebels to match them, that if they can only take some more British troops hostage then the British presence will be ended."
Mr Johnny Paul Koroma, the former junta leader to whom many of the hostage-takers, the self-styled West Side Boys, were previously loyal, called on Sierra Leone's government to crack down on the group. "It is now the business of government to enforce its power in that area so that civilians will not be further harassed."
--(Reuters)