UK navy personnel back in Iraqi waters
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, Dec 2, IRNA -- British naval personnel have returned to Iraq to help train local forces following the ratification of an agreement by the Iraqi Presidential Council, Defence Minister Bill Rammell has confirmed.
British forces had been forced to withdraw from southern Iraq to Kuwait in June following months of delay by the Iraqi parliament to sanction a new deal.
“On 22 November our Embassy in Baghdad received a diplomatic note from the Government of Iraq confirming that their constitutional procedures are now complete,” Rammell said.
“It is vital that the Iraqi navy quickly develop the capacity to protect their territorial waters and the offshore oil platforms on which their economy is so dependent,” he said in a parliamentary statement published Wednesday.
“Our Royal Navy trainers have therefore returned to Iraq, and our ships have re-entered Iraqi territorial waters. Both tasks are being undertaken alongside our US colleagues,” MPs were told.
It is understood that the new deal allows less than 100 British navy trainers to return to the country, around half the number that were force to withdraw.
In April, Britain also pulled out its remaining troops following the ending of combat operations that was marked in a low-key ceremony in Basra following the six-year disastrous war.
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