UK withdrawing 500 troops

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LONDON, Sept 9 (XINHUA): The British Defence Ministry announced Saturday that 500 British troops are being withdrawn from Iraq as part of its planned reduction in forces as Iraqis assume control of their own security in the south of the country.
The first combat unit, the Kings Royal Hussars Battle Group, which has about 250 members, will return to Britain over the next four weeks, according to a statement released by the Defense Ministry. The other 250 troops will be withdrawn in the coming months as part of ongoing reviews.
The Defence Ministry said "This reduction has been our stated aim for a long period, and there has not been any change in our policy with respect to our support for the Iraqi forces."
The withdrawals will reduce the British force in Iraq to 5,000, mostly based around Basra, Iraq's second-large city.
The announcement comes six days after 500 British troops pulled back from the Basra Palace base to an airfield outside the city.
Meanwhile: Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari urged Iraq's neighbors Sunday to prevent "terrorists and killers" from crossing into his country and warned that the violence in Iraq could spill across its borders into other nations Zebari's comments came during the opening of a daylong conference that brought to Baghdad officials from all of Iraq's neighbors and other Mideast countries, as well as representatives from the U.N. and the Group of Eight industrialized nations.
It picked up from the first such conference in March, which saw the first direct U.S.-Iranian talks since the war began, focusing on border problems, Iraqi refugees and energy issues, including oil supplies.
"Despite our emphasis on national reconciliation at home we also need to reconcile with our neighborhood, with the international community at large," Zebari told the group, adding it was a "critical period for us."
"We need your support and your commitment," he said.
Iraq's appeal to its neighbors occurred on the eve of the start of congressional hearings in Washington by U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and top commander Gen. David Petraeus who are to deliver key reports on Iraq's progress amid a debate over calls to start bringing American troops home.
US and Iraqi officials have said security has been improving but that they are not seeing significant progress politically with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government.
But al-Maliki disputed that assessment at the meeting Sunday, saying the "Iraqi national unity government has achieved great victories in different fields as it works seriously to improve the economic situation, and has achieved major results despite the major economic destruction that we inherited from the former regime."
Security was extraordinarily tight in central Baghdad where the meeting was taking place at the Foreign Ministry complex, with security forces blocking two main bridges linking the city's eastern and western sectors to all but official traffic.
The Iranian and Syrian deputy foreign ministers headed their countries' delegations while other regional countries were represented by their ambassadors, Zebari told the AP ahead of the meeting. In addition to neighbors Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Jordan, delegations from Egypt and Bahrain were present.