UK urged to spell out reported troop withdrawal plans from Iraq
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, July 11, IRNA
Iraq-UK Troop Withdrawal
The opposition Conservative Party called on the UK government Monday to spell out the scale and timing of the UK's military commitment to Iraq following reports of plans to reduce its troops from 8.500 to 3,000 next year.
Shadow Defence Secretary Michael Ancram said he was demanding a statement of clarification following reports that Labour ministers have been secretly planning to withdraw the bulk of British troops from Iraq by the middle of next year.
"The Government should urgently clarify the situation to ensure that it is understood that our troops will remain in Iraq until our tasks there are completed," Ancram said.
He referred to ministers previously rejecting calls to set out a timetable for an orderly troop withdrawal as part of an exit strategy.
"I do not believe that it is right to set a timetable because it simply establishes a target at which those forces that are out to do evil can aim," Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram told MPs last month.
The call comes after the Mail on Sunday reported a leaked British Defence Ministry memorandum confirming secret plans to withdraw troops from Iraq, including hopes by the US to cut its military deployment from 176,000 to 60,000.
Last month, the UK's main police spokesman on international affairs, Paul Kernaghan said British troops were hoping to hand over control of security to local defence and police forces in parts of southern Iraq within a year as part of a staged withdrawal.
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