Straw 'hopes to lower Iraq troop numbers'

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said today that he hoped to lower the number of troops the country has in Iraq, but only when the government was secure.

“We hope to do some of that during the course of this year,” he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, without specifying an exact date.

Mr Straw did not provide exact figures or a time frame, but said any reduction would not take place in Basra, where British troops are based.