UK Basra Troops "To Be Reduced By 1,000" - UK PM

Basra troops "to be reduced by 1,000"

British forces on the move in Basra, Iraq, September 2007; image copyright: Reuters Basra province could be handed over to full Iraqi control within the next two months, the Gordon Brown said on his first visit to Iraq as PM.

UK troops would then move from a combat role to a state of "overwatch", allowing 1,000 UK troops to return home. Britain currently has 5,000 troops based at Basra Airport following their pull-out from Basra Palace.

Speaking to journalists in Baghdad, Mr Brown said that he was "very proud" of what UK troops have achieved.

"I believe they've acted with great courage and professionalism and bravery, and I believe their contribution to democracy in Iraq has been something to make us all proud.

"We will discharge our obligations to the Iraqi people and to the international community and we will discharge our obligations to our armed forces, who are doing this difficult job."

Officials have been encouraged that there has been no deterioration of the security situation in Basra since the UK withdrawal. Moving to "overwatch" means that British troops will carry out mentoring and training of Iraqi forces rather than patrolling themselves.

Mr Brown landed in Bagdhad earlier today for talks with senior Iraqi politicians, including Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki. He is also due to meet the US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus.

The PM will then travel to Basra to meet UK commanders and troops at Basra Airport.

Last month, Mr Brown announced plans to increasingly hand over responsibility for security in the south of the country, meaning that the UK could hand over control of Basra Palace to the Iraqi Government.

The Prime Minister emphasised that the UK would still "meet our responsibilities" and "honour our obligations" in Iraq. He paid tribute to the armed forces serving in the region, "who are playing their part with courage and professionalism".

Full Transcript

Prime Minister:

The first thing I want to say is that I'm very proud of what our armed forces have been achieving here. I believe they've acted with great courage and professionalism and bravery. And I believe that their contribution to the democracy of Iraq has been something that can make us all proud. I'm clear that there are three things that have got to happen in Iraq. First of all, there has got to be political reconciliation. Secondly, there's got to be economic reconstruction so that people have a stake in the future of Iraq. And thirdly we've got to ensure that the security of the Iraqi people, and indeed the security of all those here, including our armed forces, is properly guaranteed. And we will discharge our obligations to the Iraqi people, to the international community, and we will discharge our obligations to our own armed forces, who are doing a magnificent job.

On political reconciliation, I've made it clear to all the people that I've met today that we are looking for further efforts to be made by all the parties in Iraq to come together to plan a common and united future for the whole of the Iraqi people. And I believe that the president and prime minister's council, that last met in August, should meet very soon so that all the parties that are concerned with the future of Iraq, all the different groupings in Iraq, can be seen to be represented in discussing the future.

On economic reconstruction, which is vital for giving people a stake in the future, we are proposing a Basra investment promotion agency and we are proposing a Basra development fund. And we believe that we can provide investment in infrastructure in the port, in micro-credit and small businesses, then more and more people with jobs, and with prosperity, and with hopes for the future will mean that the security tensions that have existed in the past can be lessened.

We have been trying over these last few months also to build up the Iraqi security forces. There are now 13,000 military forces in the South, most of whom have been trained by the British Army. There are 15,000 police now in the South. And from a situation where there were no Iraqi security forces, we are now in a position where there are nearly 30,000 Iraqi security forces.

So what we propose to do over these next few months is to move from a situation where we had a combat role to one where we have an overwatch role; where the Iraqis increasingly take over, with the 30,000 that they have, responsibility for their own security; and with us, as the British, having an overwatch so that we maintain a facility for re-intervention if necessary, but at the same time we play a greater role in training future security forces in Iraq.

I believe that within the next two months we can move to provincial control, that is the Iraqis taking responsibility for their own security in the whole of Basra. I believe that the 30,000 security forces that have been trained up are capable of discharging these responsibilities for security, and that allows us to make other decisions about British troops. And I believe that by the end of the year the British forces, which have been 5,500, can be reduced to 4,500, and that by the end of the year, indeed by Christmas, 1,000 of our troops can be brought back to the UK and to other purposes.

The onus is, of course, on the Iraqi people and on the Iraqi security forces to prove that they can manage their own security. The final decisions will be taken based on what happens on the ground. But I'm reassured by the numbers of Iraqi security forces that now exist that we have completed a task, and are completing it now, where we have had a combat role, and that the Iraqi forces themselves can take responsibility over time for their own security. Let me just add that we will do everything that we can to discharge our continuing duty, not just to the Iraqi people, but to the United Nations and the obligations we've made to the international community in successive resolutions, and I believe that additional resolutions will come forward to repeat that responsibility that the whole world accepts for the democracy of Iraq.

Interviewer:

Can I ask you about the numbers? You've just said 4,500 by the end of the year, so 1,000 troops brought home. Can you see that process developing into 2008, where another 1,000 might be brought home by the spring of 2008? How many eventually, assuming things go well, do you anticipate leaving in Iraq for that overwatch role, if things settle down in Basra, and what's the sort of timescale you're hoping for?

Prime Minister:

I'm not going to make further announcements today. This is essentially a fact-finding mission, and I'm with our most senior members of the armed forces to look at what's happening on the ground. We are in a position where at one point we had 44,000 forces in Iraq. That has recently come down to 5,500. I believe that as we move to overwatch, as the Iraqis, with 30,000 of their own security forces, take responsibility we can move down to 4,500. That releases 1,000 of our troops and hopefully they will be home by Christmas. But at the same time, we will make our decisions in future based on our assessment of what's happening on the ground as we continue to move to a greater training role in helping the Iraqis develop their own security themselves.

Interviewer:

Prime Minister, you've got some very important decisions to take here in Iraq today. You've got a very important announcement to make to MPs in the House of Commons on this matter next week. Should we read into that that you've now ruled out the possibility of an autumn election or is it still a possibility?

Prime Minister:

Let me be absolutely clear: the first thing on my mind today is the security of our armed forces. The decisions that we are making are being made after consultation and after great consideration about what is in the best interest of our armed forces. We have seen the build-up of security forces in Iraq. Many of them have been trained, indeed most of them have been trained by the British armed forces themselves. So my first concern is the security of our armed forces and what we can do to promote the democracy of Iraq. I will make a statement to the House of Commons on that matter. And on all the other issues, that is not what's on my mind at the moment.

ENDS

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