LONDON (AFP) - - Prince Harry was on his way back to Britain on Saturday after news of his 10-week tour of Afghanistan was leaked by foreign media, the defence ministry in London confirmed.

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The 23-year-old royal, a junior officer in the Household Cavalry, was posted in mid-December to the restive Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, where British forces are fighting Taliban insurgents.

"The Ministry of Defence can confirm that Prince Harry left Afghanistan earlier this evening," the ministry said in a statement early on Saturday.

"He is now on his way home to the United Kingdom."

Harry's deployment to the war-torn country made him the first British royal to be sent into combat in more than a quarter of a century -- his uncle, Prince Andrew, served as a naval helicopter pilot during the 1982 Falklands War.

He was deployed under a cloak of secrecy following an unusual news blackout deal between the media and the army.

But the arrangement collapsed Thursday after news was leaked on the US website, the Drudge Report, which gained notoriety by revealing details of then US president Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky.

After news of his deployment became public, the defence ministry announced on Friday that he would be withdrawn from Afghanistan "immediately"

The decision was taken because "the worldwide media coverage of Prince Harry in Afghanistan could impact on the security of those who are deployed there, as well as the risks to him as an individual soldier".

Under the blackout deal, British journalists visited Prince Harry in Afghanistan on condition that details would only be made public once he had left.

The blackout was agreed after the army was forced to cancel plans to send the prince to Iraq last year because of the security risk.

The pre-prepared interviews in Afghanistan were released Thursday after his mission was revealed, along with video of him firing a machine gun, using a field telephone, riding a motorcycle and playing football with fellow soldiers.

In one interview, the prince said there had been jokes about his nickname -- "bullet magnet" -- and acknowledged his tour could make him a "top target" for extremists.

"Every single person that supports them will be trying to slot me," he said.

But he said he enjoyed being away from the glare of media publicity he faces at home, adding: "I think this is about as normal as I'm ever going to get."

Queen Elizabeth II praised her grandson, saying he had done "a good job in a very difficult climate", while British Prime Minister Gordon Brown described him as an "exemplary soldier (who) is serving with dedication in the finest tradition of our armed forces."

Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta expressed his country's gratitude, saying the prince's tour of duty was "a good sign of the solidarity from the (British) royal family".

The prince's commanding officer in Afghanistan, Brigadier Andrew Mackay, said he had "shared the same risks (and) endured the same austerity" as his colleagues and had "acquitted himself with distinction".

The prince, who had considered quitting the armed forces after the Iraq decision, retrained as a battlefield air controller to go to Afghanistan.

He flew out on December 14 and spent several weeks in Garmsir in Helmand province, operating just 500 metres (yards) from frontline Taliban positions.