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Brown makes surprise visit to Iraq ahead of Basra Province handover

BOOSTING MORALE: British Prime Minister Gordon Brown speaks to soldiers stationed at Basra Air Station in Iraq on Monday. - PHOTO: AFP

BASRA (Iraq): British Prime Minister Gordon Brown flew into southern Iraq to rally troops and confirm that Iraqi forces will take command of the last region under British control in mid-December.

Soldiers lined the staircases of an airport base to watch Mr. Brown arrive for his hour-long visit on Sunday, offering thunderous applause as he praised their efforts to maintain security in the south. “We have managed now to get Iraq to a far better position... We’re able to move to provincial control and that is thanks to what you have achieved,” Mr. Brown told soldiers.

He said he had held discussions by phone with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who recommended responsibility for security in southern Iraq should be handed over to local police and soldiers within two weeks. “It’s because of all the operations we have done over the past few months,” Mr. Brown said. “Not that violence has ended, but we are able to move to provincial Iraqi control and that’s thanks to everything you have achieved.”

The British leader’s unannounced visit signalled the start of what Britain hopes will be the transition from a military mission in Iraq to one aimed at aiding Iraq’s economy and providing jobs.

Britain’s participation in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and the ongoing presence of troops is deeply unpopular in Britain — as is the £6 billion annual price tag of operations there.

A total of 173 British personnel have died in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion.

Mr. Brown has been less enthusiastic about Britain’s combat role than his predecessor Tony Blair, but is not budging on remaining in the U.S.-led coalition even as other participants dwindle away.

Australia and Poland have recently announced their combat forces will leave Iraq in 2008. An economic adviser is expected to be appointed soon to oversee a development project and create jobs for residents, officials said.

They said Basra’s vast oil wealth and once vibrant economy could offer tremendous growth potential provided security issues are resolved.

There are concerns, however, that Iraqi forces are not ready to fill the security vacuum expected when they are given full responsibility for maintaining order across the south in the next two weeks.

Basra police chief Maj. Gen. Jalil Khalaf acknowledged last week that his forces lack the means to provide security in the region when British troops withdraw.

Under the security handover plan, British troops will take up a role Mr. Brown has described as “over-watch,” a move that will allow Britain to largely end combat operations but retain the ability to quickly insert itself should the need arise.

Britain will train and support Iraqi forces and remain on standby to help the Iraqis if needed. U.S. officials are concerned about security of oil fields and military transport lines from Kuwait after the handover.

Britain’s contingent of 4,500 troops in Iraq will fall to 2,500 by the spring.

On Monday, Mr. Brown travelled to the main British military base in southern Afghanistan to boost the spirits of troops serving on the front line of an increasingly deadly fight against Taliban militants. Mr. Brown’s visit comes amid a successful NATO and Afghan operation to retake a Taliban-controlled town, Musa Qala, in the area where British troops operate.

Mr. Brown, at a news conference in Kabul alongside Afghan President Hamid Karzai, said he had “no doubt” the Musa Qala operation would be successful and that social and economic progress would follow military action. “In Musa Qala the action has been taken, and I think we will see in the next few days in Musa Qala that the action will be effective, that it will work and it will bring long-term and lasting results”.

Earlier, Mr. Brown met with about 150 British troops at Camp Bastion in Helmand province, thanking them for their “patriotic service.” — AP

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