Britain to withdraw half its troops

Britain will withdraw nearly half its troops in Iraq beginning next spring, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday, leaving a contingent of 2,500 soldiers in the war.\nBrown told lawmakers the plan follows the success of the U.S. troop increase this summer and efforts by Iraqis to drive suspected al-Qaida militants from havens in the Anbar province west of \nBaghdad.\nBrown said decisions on further cuts will be made once the reduction to 2,500 is complete, rejecting a call from opposition lawmakers to set a timetable to withdraw \nall forces.\n“We plan from next spring to reduce force numbers in southern Iraq to a figure of 2,500,” Brown said in a statement to Parliament.\nBritain is currently scaling back forces and by the year’s end will have 4,500 troops based mainly at an air base camp on the fringe of the southern city of Basra.\nThe head of the security committee on the Basra city council, Hakim al-Miyahi, welcomed \nthe decision.\n“It is a good step because the withdrawal will be gradual and not abrupt. This means that we will have enough time to get our security forces ready to handle the security issue in Basra, and we expect this to happen in the next year. We hope that the British will continue their support in training and arming Iraqi forces.”\nIraqi forces will take control of security in the larger Basra province within two months, ending Britain’s combat role in the country, Brown said.\n“The security gains made by the multinational forces this year have been significant,” Brown said. “As important as improving security is building the capacity of the Iraqi forces so they can achieve our aim: that Iraqis step up and progressively take over security themselves.”\nBritish forces will move to an oversight role which will initially include securing key supply and transit routes from Kuwait to Baghdad, Brown said.\nBritain’s participation in the 2003 U.S.-led invasion – and the continuing presence of troops in the country four years later – remains deeply unpopular in Britain. Polls show a majority want troops brought home, and the war was a major factor in reducing Prime Minister Tony Blair’s parliamentary majority in the 2005 election.\nIn all, 170 British troops have died in Iraq since the March \n2003 invasion.