Britain ends Iraq combat operations

BRITISH forces have formally ended combat operations in Iraq, one month ahead of schedule, with a ceremony to remember their dead during six years of warfare.

The conclusion of the military campaign, which began with the war that toppled Saddam Hussein in March 2003, came as British prime minister Gordon Brown met his Iraqi counterpart Nuri al-Maliki in London.

“Today marks the closing chapter of the combat mission in Iraq,” Mr Brown said. “The flag of 20th Armoured Brigade will be lowered as British combat patrols in Basra come to an end and our armed forces prepare to draw down.

“Today we are taking steps to strengthen and deepen our relationship and to make it a long-term partnership of equals,” he added.

A formal transfer of authority ceremony was held in the southern city of Basra, after British forces paid tribute to their 179 colleagues killed since the US-led invasion of March 2003.

British troop numbers were the second largest in the Iraq campaign, peaking at 46,000 at the height of combat operations that resulted in the ousting of Saddam and his eventual execution for crimes against humanity.

The names of the 179 soldiers as well as those of 55 multinational forces personnel who died in British-led operations in the Basra area were read out at the memorial service, which was attended by British defence secretary John Hutton.

“The very act of calling by name is an important one,” said the military chaplain leading the ceremony.

“Each name is unique and each name tells a story – the story of a son or a daughter, a husband or a wife, a father or a mother. Each name will invoke powerful memories, not least for family and loved ones back home.”

Major General Andy Salmon, the senior British officer in Basra, handed over the southern base to an American commander at a similar ceremony last month, in a key step towards the departure of all foreign troops from the country.

A deal signed by Baghdad and London last year agreed that the last 4,100 British soldiers would complete their mission – primarily training the Iraqi army – by June, before a complete withdrawal from the country in late-July.

The pullout of troops comes almost 50 years after Britain’s previous exit from Iraq, in May 1959, when the last soldiers left Habbaniyah base near the western town of Fallujah, ending a presence that dated back to 1918.

Basra, Iraq’s third-largest city and a strategic oil hub, had been under British command since the 2003 invasion, but the province and its airport returned to Iraqi control four months ago. As well as training its soldiers, Britain has been instrumental in the rebirth of the Iraqi navy.

A Royal Navy training team is based at the southern port of Umm Qasr, and its role is expected to continue although a new agreement has yet to be reached.