British Troops May Be Out Of Iraq Early Next Year

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Forum Spin Doctor
London Daily Telegraph
October 20, 2008
Pg. 2

By Rosa Prince, Political Correspondent
Most British troops could be out of Iraq by early next year, John Hutton has hinted on his first visit to the region since becoming Defence Secretary.
Speaking after talks in Baghdad with Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, he said that Britain's role was likely to see a "fundamental change'' in the first months of 2009, with the military presence limited to a training role.
He hailed the "significant progress'' that had been made in Iraq in recent months, and welcomed the improvement in the security situation across the country. The Defence Secretary went on to speak to the 2nd Battalion The Royal Anglian Regiment and other service personnel based in the Baghdad Support Unit.
Mr Hutton is due to travel on to Basra today, where most of the 4,000 British troops stationed in Iraq are based.
Negotiations are underway to agree a deal on the future of British and American forces in Iraq after the United Nations mandate runs out at the end of the year. Gordon Brown has repeatedly refused to set out a timetable for withdrawal.
Last week, Mr Maliki embarrassed the Government by saying that British troops were no longer needed in Iraq. Describing the future of the deployment, Mr Hutton said he hoped that it would prove possible to shrink the British deployment to just a few hundred troops, although that would be conditional on events on the ground.
"We want, in the first months of next year, to see a fundamental change in our military mission in Iraq, moving towards an increased focus on military training and education as part of a broad-based bilateral partnership,'' he said.
"We agreed to work together intensively to put in place, by the end of this year, a formal agreement in relation to the status of UK forces in Iraq which will underpin this change.
"I wanted to take the opportunity to see what our people - civilian and military - are achieving out here and to get a clear sense of the UK's engagement with Iraq, both current and future. Throughout the country, security and prospects are improving and I am extremely proud of what our forces have achieved.''
A spokesman for the Iraqi leader said: "Prime minister Nouri al-Maliki declared that Iraq will form a negotiating team to discuss the future of the presence of British forces in Iraq.
"The prime minister confirmed that it is time to build a better relation with the states who stood beside Iraq against dictatorship.''
The new accord with the Iraqi government is likely to be based on a similar agreement between Baghdad and Washington on the status of US forces once the UN mandate runs out.
 
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