Britain to reduce troops in Iraq to 2,500 next spring

FE Team | Published: October 10, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

LONDON, Oct 9 (XINHUA): British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday that his country would reduce its troops in Iraq to 2,500 by spring 2008.
"We plan for next spring to reduce force numbers in southern Iraq to a figure of 2,500," Brown said in a statement in the House of Commons.
Brown said that the "first stage" of troop withdrawals had begun with the Iraqis already assuming greater security responsibility.
Britain expected to "establish provincial Iraqi control in Basra province in the next two months as announced by the Prime Minister of Iraq," and to "move to the first stage of overwatch," said Brown.
Britain would "reduce numbers in southern Iraq from 5,500 at the start of September to 4,500... and then to 4,000," Brown said.
"In the second stage of overwatch, from the spring-and guided as always by the advice of our military commanders -- (we will) reduce to around 2,500 troops, with a further decision about the next phase made then," said Brown.
"In both stages of overwatch around 500 logistics and support personnel will be based outside Iraq elsewhere in the region," added Brown.
Brown also stressed that all the decisions "must be made on the basis of the assessments of our military commanders and actual conditions on the ground."
"As a result of the progress made in southern Iraq, US, UK and Iraqi commanders judged over the last 15 months that three out of the four provinces in the UK's area of control in southern Iraq were suitable for transition back to the Iraqis --- and these have subsequently been transferred to Iraqi control," said Brown.