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Brown rules out early Iraq pull-out

LONDON: There would be no early troop pull-out from Iraq, indicated Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Tuesday. He said the 4,100 U.K. soldiers based in Basra would remain there for some more time.

Mr. Brown said troop numbers would “continue to reduce” as the situation improved, but refused to set out a timetable for withdrawal. His remarks, in a statement to the Commons after his visit to Iraq last week, disappointed anti-war activists and many of his own MPs who have been calling for an immediate end to Britain’s unpopular military involvement in Iraq.

He claimed there had been a “marked improvement” in the security situation in Basra, but British troops were still needed to train Iraqi forces. “As we complete these tasks and as progress continues across these different areas, we will continue to reduce the number of British troops in Iraq,” he said, adding that he expected a “fundamental change of mission in the first few months of 2009.”

Iraq is expected to dominate Mr. Brown’s discussions with Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Barack Obama during the latter’s one-day visit to Britain later this week.

Mr. Brown’s statement came as the Commons’ Defence Select Committee called for a “long-term” British commitment to Iraq in order to acquire greater influence in the region.

“The larger the military training commitment we can maintain , the greater will be the U.K. influence in Iraq and in the region as a whole as Iraq recovers its position as a wealthy and powerful Middle-Eastern nation [West Asia],” said the committee in a report.

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