Iraq will need British military support for 'some time'

Iraqi authorities will continue to need British military support in the south of the country “for some time to come”, the UK's Deputy Prime Minister said today.

But Barham Salih said the Iraqi government acknowledged it could not rely on outsiders for its security forever. The recently-announced withdrawals which will bring UK presence near Basra down to 2,500 next year was in large part due to confidence that local forces were ready to take on security responsibilities, he said.

Mr Salih, who is in London for talks at 10 Downing Street, warned Turkey against intervening in northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish guerrillas who Ankara blames for the deaths of 30 Turkish soldiers and civilians in recent weeks.

And he backed the call by Iraq’s human rights minister for security guards from the US firm Blackwater to face trial over allegations they killed 17 people when they opened fire on civilians in Baghdad in September.

Downing Street said Mr Salih was holding talks with officials later today, and that Prime Minister Gordon Brown hoped to be able to drop in on the meeting to speak with him.

Mr Salih told BBC Radio 4’s World at One: “I met with the Prime Minister last when he was in Baghdad a couple of weeks ago and we will have follow-up discussions about the situation in Basra.

“We know that more British troops will withdraw from Basra, in large measure because there is confidence in the Iraqi forces in the Basra area to assume the lead in security management in the region.

“We still have challenges in Basra and I don’t want to under-estimate the challenges ahead, but at the end of the day there has to be a point where Iraqi security services assume the lead. We can’t count on outsiders – our friends - forever.”

But he added: “We definitely will need continued British support for some time to come.”

Mr Salih admitted that there was a “serious political crisis” in Iraq, which was leading to terrible frustration among the population.

“There is a political structure in Iraq that is producing crisis after crisis,” he said. “The time has come for the political leadership of the country and the government to deliver on some very serious political reforms.”

The Turkish Parliament is tomorrow expected to approve a cross-border offensive against Kurdish rebels, allowing the government to stage an attack in northern Iraq at any time over the next year.

Mr Salih warned: “I affirm that any unilateral action by Turkey in violation of Iraqi sovereignty will have very grave consequences to Iraqi stability and to stability in the region as a whole.

“If Turkey, as a neighbour of Iraq, allows itself the right to intervene militarily in Iraq, what is there to prevent other neighbours from intervening?”

He backed human rights minister Wijdan Salim’s call for Blackwater operatives to be held to account for civilian deaths in Baghdad.

Asked about the case, he said: “Gung-ho and trigger-happy groups that are terrorising populations – that is just not acceptable.

“I think there will be some very serious changes to the arrangements and procedures by which licences are awarded to these private security firms.”