Australia: No expansion of troops in Iraq

Australia would not expand its forces to combine its troops with Iraqi forces as part of a withdrawal strategy in Iraq, the country's prime minister John Howard said today.

The Iraq Study Group panel headed by former US Secretary of State James Baker and former Democratic Representative Lee Hamilton recommended last week a pullback of all American combat brigades by early 2008 to shift the US mission to training and advising with more soldiers embedded with Iraqi security forces.

Asked if Australia would embed troops with the Iraqis, Mr Howard told Australian television: "Given the size of our force, it's not a realistic thing and we don't have any current proposals to increase the size of our commitment.''