Agence France-Presse,
BASRA, Iraq: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced on Tuesday during a visit to Iraq that 1,000 British troops could be home by Christmas as he aims to hand control of Basra province back to the Iraqis within two months.
“I believe that by the end of the year the British forces which have been 5,500 can be reduced to 4,500 and by Christmas 1,000 of our troops can be brought back to the UK for other purposes,” Brown said.
“I believe that within the next two months we can move to provincial Iraqi control (of Basra), that is Iraqis taking responsibility of their own security.”
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino told reporters in Washington that the United States had no objections to the planned drawdown, 500 of which had been flagged by the British defence ministry on September 8.
After meeting Iraqi counterpart Nuri al-Maliki in Baghdad on his maiden visit to Iraq since succeeding Tony Blair in June, Brown travelled on to visit British troops based at Basra airport.
“What you are doing here is making a huge difference,” Brown told 200 troops and members of the US and Australian military in a five-minute speech at the British base at Basra airport.
“You're building a democracy by sustaining those people who want the people of the country and not the terrorists to control the future of the country. You're brave, you're courageous and I am incredibly proud of you.”
Earlier, Maliki assured journalists after meeting Brown that Iraqi forces were ready to take over from the British in the southern oil province.
“Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki confirms that the Iraqi security forces are ready to take over full responsibility of the Basra security file from the British as soon as possible,” a statement from his office said.
Asked in Baghdad if Britain was planning a further reduction of troop levels in Iraq in early 2008, Brown replied that there would be no further announcement for the time being.
“We will make our decisions in the future based on our assessment on the ground,” he told reporters outside the British embassy in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.
Brown's visit came one month after the last 500 British soldiers slipped away from their previous headquarters at Basra Palace, a sumptuous former residence of Saddam Hussein.
Britain has already transferred control of three southern provinces back to the Iraqis — Maysan, Al-Muthanna and Dhi Qar — and Basra is the final part of their mission.
The 5,250 British troops the military says are still based at Basra airport are mostly engaged in training Iraqi army and police units, the new guardians of the city.
Brown said he had spoken to Maliki about political reconciliation and had told him Britain was looking for further efforts to be made by all parties in Iraq to come together.
The reconstruction of Iraq, he added, was “vital” and Britain was proposing a Basra investment and development agency to boost employment and increase security.
Brown previously held talks with Maliki and President Jalal Talabani on a fact-finding trip on June 11 when he was still finance minister. Before that, he met British troops in Basra in November 2006.
Britain's opposition Conservatives dismissed Brown's visit as a “photo opportunity” amid mounting speculation at home that he is preparing to call a snap election and wants to distance himself from the increasingly unpopular Iraq policy of his predecessor.
Tory defence spokesman Liam Fox criticised the lack of attention given to Iraq by Brown in a keynote address at his ruling Labour Party's annual conference last week, saying there had been only 126 words on the subject.
“One word for every two service men or women killed in Iraq and Afghanistan — I hope you remember that when you are having your photo opportunities in Iraq today,” he said.
Amid continued calls for a pullout and British military losses that now total 170 since the 2003 invasion, Iraq has so far failed to impact on Brown's poll ratings, despite his vote in favour of the war.
In policy terms, Brown has so far shown little divergence from Blair on Iraq, although he has accepted the issue has been politically “divisive” and that “mistakes” were made in post-war planning and reconstruction.
Brown held talks in Baghdad with the top US general in Iraq, David Petraeus, American ambassador Ryan Crocker, and Britain's Major General Bill Rollo.
After his address to the troops in Basra and meetings with embassy officials, he boarded his plane and departed for Kuwait en route to London.
