UK troops poised to quit Basra

[rodeodance]

Source: From The Sunday Times



From The Sunday Times

September 2, 2007
UK troops poised to quit Basra

Michael Smith and Sarah Baxter, Washington

.........
The Iraqi army is on course to take control of Basra province by the autumn with October seen as the earliest point at which it would be ready, according to Whitehall officials.

........

According to defence sources in Washington, American commanders in Baghdad have accepted that British troops are on their way out of Iraq, prompting further criticism this weekend from US military commentators. Frederick Kagan, of the American Enterprise Institute, said it was “hard to imagine” conditions that would allow a handover next month. “It really highlights the growing divergence between the British and American approach,” he said.

General Jack Keane, a key architect of the US troop “surge” in Iraq, said the handover plans had “much more to do with conditions in the UK” than those in Iraq.

Government attempts to play down the simmering row with the US were hampered by General Sir Mike Jackson, former head of the British Army, who launched a scathing attack yesterday on American handling of postwar Iraq.

Read more: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article2368539.ece

[rodeodance]

1. The growing irritation in Washington will only be increased by renewed claims

The growing irritation in Washington will only be increased by renewed claims that the British have done a deal with the Shi’ite militias to ease their way out of Basra.

The lawyer for a Briton held without trial in Basra detailed a number of secret meetings where the British agreed to a phased release of militants, including known killers.

The Ministry of Defence denied any such deal but a senior defence source said secret talks mediated by the Iraqi special police had been “going on for weeks” to ensure a safe withdrawal from Basra Palace.

The prime minister has promised President George W Bush that the British will continue to monitor the progress of the Iraqi troops for the foreseeable future.

[bemildred]

2. British troops vacate Basra palace

British soldiers are pulling out of a base at a palace in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, according to a British ministry of defence source.

Sunday's withdrawal is seen as a step towards handing over Basra province to Iraqi control and paving the way for an eventual withdrawal of British forces from Iraq.

"The troops are coming out," the source said.

Some 500 of Britain's 5,500 soldiers in Iraq are stationed at Basra Palace, an old palace built for Saddam Hussein in the centre of Iraq's second city.

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/0C6D3F88-72E3-4656-B564-B27D8B17D096.htm