• Military

• WMD Menu                           

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

No early plans to further reduce UK troops in Iraq

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

London, July 19, IRNA
UK Troops-Iraq
The British government has no plans to further reduce its troops numbers in Iraq for the rest of the year despite preparations to handover security responsibility to Iraqi forces in three of the four provinces under UK control.

In a parliamentary statement published Wednesday, Defence Secretary Des Browne announced details of a new force package in the next routine roulement in Iraq.

"Following the completion of the roulement in November, the total number of UK troops in Iraq will be broadly the same as currently deployed, approximately 7,100 servicemen and women," Browne told MPs.

He also said that members of the reserve forces will continue to deploy to Iraq as part of this force package, and that his ministry will shortly start to serve approximately 600 call-out notices in order to fill some 500 posts.

But the minister also emphases that the new force package "will depend on the conditions on the ground, in particular the security situation in the south and progress on handover of security responsibility to the Iraqi civil authorities."
"I very much hope that positive progress in these areas will enable adjustments to the force package we deploy, and we will continue to keep UK force levels in Iraq under review," he said.

In March, former Defence Secretary John Reid announced the only reduction in the British troop deployment so far this year, when he said numbers based in Basra would fall by 800 to around 7,000, but he denied the cut was part of the "handover of responsibility." On Tuesday, Defence Minister Lord Drayson said that his government anticipated that responsibility of security will be handed back to Iraqi forces by the end of 2006 in three of the four provinces controlled by UK troops, leaving only Basra.

His announcement came after British troops proceeded with the handover of the southern province of Mutthana to Iraqi authority last week in what was seen as the first test case of the eventual withdrawal plans by the UK.

2220/1430/2322/1412