Australia will not set timetable for Iraq troop withdrawal

Australia will not be reducing its forces in Iraq or setting a timetable for them to be withdrawn, the defence minister said yesterday, in response to news that Britain will bring 1,500 troops home in the next few weeks.

Defence Minister Brendan Nelson said that the aim of all members of the US-led coalition in Iraq was to train domestic forces so they could take over security in Iraq and reduce the necessity of foreign troops, and Britain’s decision was based on this principle.

But Australia’s contingent in Iraq was much smaller than Britain’s and there was less flexibility to reduce its size without compromising its security.

“Our timetable is confidently getting to that point where ... where we can be confident that the Iraqis that we are training ... are able to confidently look after their own people and their own security,” Nelson told Australian Broadcasting Corp radio.

“We are making progress ... (but) the conditions are not yet right to abandon the Iraqis in those circumstances.”