Britain to cut Basra troops by 1 000

BASRA – British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced yesterday that 500 more soldiers would be home from the unpopular war in Iraq by the end of the year, fuelling speculation he may soon call a national election.

On his first visit to Iraq as prime minister, Brown said Iraq could take responsibility for security in Basra province within two months, completing the transfer of power in all four southern provinces for which Britain was once responsible. Britain has been trimming its Iraq force from 5 500 since moving 500 soldiers from a palace in the city of Basra to a vast airbase on its outskirts in early September.The total now stands at about 5 250 and was due to fall to 5 000 soon.”I believe that by the end of the year British troops can be reduced to 4 500,” Brown told reporters during a visit to Baghdad.”That releases 1 000 of our troops and hopefully they will be home by Christmas.”The top US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, said after meeting Brown that he did not believe final decisions had been taken on British troop cuts.Petraeus said senior British commanders would finalise numbers in talks with US counterparts over the next few days.”I’m not aware of final decisions being made …there certainly have been ranges that have been discussed already,” he told reporters in the Green Zone, adding that a reduction of 1 000 troops was “quite doable”.While Britain’s Iraq force is now just over a tenth of its peak in 2003, the United States has some 160 000 troops in the country as it tries to stem daily suicide attacks, car bombs, mortar attacks and sectarian killings.An Iraqi al Qaeda-led group, the Islamic State in Iraq, vowed revenge in a statement on Tuesday for the death of senior leader Abu Usama al-Tunisi, killed by US forces last week.The Iraq war is also unpopular in the United States and Washington hopes to start bringing home soldiers next year as Iraqi security forces take over.It aims to trim the force to 130 000-140 000 troops by July 2008.Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said that he hoped his country would have different long-term ties with London.”We hope to change the relationship between Iraq and Britain from successful security cooperation to a long-term relationship built on economic and politically cooperation,” Maliki told a news conference yesterday.Speculation is mounting in Britain that Brown, who has a solid lead in the opinion polls, will call an early election to win a popular mandate after taking over from Tony Blair in June.Nampa-ReutersBritain has been trimming its Iraq force from 5 500 since moving 500 soldiers from a palace in the city of Basra to a vast airbase on its outskirts in early September.The total now stands at about 5 250 and was due to fall to 5 000 soon.”I believe that by the end of the year British troops can be reduced to 4 500,” Brown told reporters during a visit to Baghdad.”That releases 1 000 of our troops and hopefully they will be home by Christmas.”The top US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, said after meeting Brown that he did not believe final decisions had been taken on British troop cuts.Petraeus said senior British commanders would finalise numbers in talks with US counterparts over the next few days.”I’m not aware of final decisions being made …there certainly have been ranges that have been discussed already,” he told reporters in the Green Zone, adding that a reduction of 1 000 troops was “quite doable”.While Britain’s Iraq force is now just over a tenth of its peak in 2003, the United States has some 160 000 troops in the country as it tries to stem daily suicide attacks, car bombs, mortar attacks and sectarian killings.An Iraqi al Qaeda-led group, the Islamic State in Iraq, vowed revenge in a statement on Tuesday for the death of senior leader Abu Usama al-Tunisi, killed by US forces last week.The Iraq war is also unpopular in the United States and Washington hopes to start bringing home soldiers next year as Iraqi security forces take over.It aims to trim the force to 130 000-140 000 troops by July 2008.Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said that he hoped his country would have different long-term ties with London.”We hope to change the relationship between Iraq and Britain from successful security cooperation to a long-term relationship built on economic and politically cooperation,” Maliki told a news conference yesterday.Speculation is mounting in Britain that Brown, who has a solid lead in the opinion polls, will call an early election to win a popular mandate after taking over from Tony Blair in June.Nampa-Reuters

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