COPENHAGEN, Oct 4 (Reuters) - The head of Denmark's defence forces quit on Sunday after the military was forced to admit its own officers had translated into Arabic a book describing Danish special forces' operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Admiral Tim Jorgensen resigned after it emerged that a military computer specialist produced an Arabic version of a book by a Danish soldier, which the military had failed to get banned, and a military spokesman then leaked it to a newspaper.

Local media have said the officers' aim was to fuel a national security scare in order to further officials' efforts to suppress the book by a soldier who had served in Afghanistan. Two officers involved have already left military service.

Military officials lost a court battle to ban the book -- "Hunter Force -- At War with the Elite" -- which they feared would jeopardise Danish soldiers serving abroad and damage NATO-member Denmark's relations with its allies.

The scandal has not forced Defence Minister Soren Gade from office and he said on Sunday he regretted Jorgensen's resignation. Gade last week said he was prepared to resign if he no longer had the confidence of fellow politicians.

"The case around the translation is deeply serious, and I regret that the situation has come to this," Gade said in a statement, announcing Jorgensen's resignation.

He also said last week he had unintentionally lied to a parliamentary committee over whether the military had been involved in the translation of the book.

The publication of the book by former special forces soldier Thomas Rathsack last month ignited a controversy between officials and Rathsack's publisher, Politiken, which issued it in its newspaper pages and in book format.

Politiken headlined its Sunday article about the case "The defence forces' big lie". (Reporting by John Acher; Additional reporting by Peter Levring; Editing by Louise Ireland)

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