Brown aims to cut troops in Iraq

7:25pm Saturday 19th July 2008

Gordon Brown has called on British troops in Basra to bring the UK's work in Iraq to its conclusion.

In a speech to soldiers in the blistering heat of southern Iraq, the Prime Minister held out the prospect of an end to British involvement in the country five-and-a-half years after the invasion.

His upbeat comments came at the end of a lightning visit to Iraq, during which he assessed the prospects for the drawdown of troops with the military and Iraqi leaders.

Mr Brown refused to set an "artificial timetable" for troop withdrawals after talks in Baghdad with Iraqi prime minister Nouri Maliki and president Jalal Talabani.

But he insisted dramatic progress had been made in the time since his last visit in December, with violent incidents in the Basra area down from six a day to one every six days.

He told British troops at Basra Air Station: "You are now working with the Iraqi forces to train them up so that they can take over their responsibilities, so that we can complete our work here to bring Basra to democracy, security and prosperity."

He went on to praise the professionalism, dedication and courage of the 4,000-strong British force in Iraq. Thanking them for their efforts, he said: "Your work with the Iraqi armed forces is going to make a huge difference to the long term."

Speaking to reporters in Baghdad, Mr Brown said it was his intention to reduce UK troop numbers in the country, but declined to set a timetable for them to come home.

The Prime Minister stressed that troop withdrawals will depend on the achievement of key objectives on the ground, including the handover of the Basra airport to Iraqi civilian control.

"It is certainly our intention that we reduce troop numbers, but I am not going to give an artificial timetable at the moment," Mr Brown said.

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