Brown talks of reducing troops on Iraq visit 19/07/2008 - 11:54:47
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown today said it was his intention to reduce British troop numbers in Iraq, but he would not set an “artificial timetable” to bring forces home.
Withdrawals will depend on the achievement of key objectives on the ground, he told reporters during an unannounced visit to the Iraqi capital Baghdad, where he held talks with the country’s Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and President Jalal Talabani.
Mr Brown also met the commander of US forces in Iraq, General David Petraeus and the American ambassador Ryan Crocker before flying on to the southern Iraqi city of Basra to meet British troops.
The visit is Mr Brown’s first trip to Iraq since December, and comes ahead of a statement to the House of Commons next week on Britain’s involvement there.
The head of Britain’s armed forces, Chief of Defence Staff Air Chief Marshal Jock Stirrup, this week said he expected a “substantial change in our mission in Iraq” early in 2009 and was “confident” of a reduction in the 4,000-strong UK deployment over the course of next year.
Plans to reduce UK troop levels to about 2,500 by spring had to be postponed earlier this year because of an increase in fighting around Basra.
Asked today about the prospect for withdrawals, Mr Brown said: “It is certainly our intention that we reduce troop numbers, but I am not going to give an artificial timetable at the moment.”
He added “enormous progress” had been made in Iraq over the last few months and paid tribute to the contribution of UK forces.
“I want to congratulate them on their professionalism, on their resilience and on their courage,” he said.
Mr Brown said there were four main objectives he wanted to see met in Iraq - the training of local army and police; local elections being held; economic and social development in the Basra area; and the transfer of Basra Airport to civilian use.
He continued: “I am not setting an artificial timetable, but what I can say is there has been significant progress in all these areas.”
The number of violent incidents has reduced dramatically since he was last in the country in December last year, he said.
“In a period of six months enormous progress has been made,” he said.
He also spoke of a “turning point” in the violence.
Mr Brown spent just under an hour at Mr Maliki’s offices, speaking to the Iraqi PM alone before being joined by advisers. The meeting was followed by 20 minutes of talks with Mr Talabani at the presidential palace and discussions with Gen Petraeus and Mr Crocker in the British Embassy.
A news blackout imposed on journalists travelling with the British Prime Minister was lifted soon after his arrival in the Iraqi capital when the visit was widely reported by local media. The embargo had been imposed on security grounds.
HOME PAGE
ARCHIVES
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown today said it was his intention to reduce British troop numbers in Iraq, but he would not set an “artificial timetable” to bring forces home.
|