Brown: Basra troops "to be reduced by 1,000"
2 Oct 07
Basra province could be handed over to full Iraqi control within the next two months said Prime Minister Gordon Brown today, 2 October 2007.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown meets British Servicemen and Women at Basra Air Station on 2 October 2007.
[Picture: Cpl Steve Follows]
In his first visit to Iraq as Prime Minister, Mr Brown said that UK troops could then move from a combat role to a state of "overwatch", allowing UK troops based in Iraq to be reduced by 1,000. This would mean approximately 4,500 British troops serving in Iraq.
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."
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. The Prime Minister said an interview with the media:
"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 Iraqi 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.
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."
Prime Minister Gordon Brown is greeted by General Officer Commanding, Major General Graham Binns, on arrival at Basra Air Station on 2 October 2007.
[Picture: Cpl Steve Follows]
In his interview with the media today Mr Brown said there are three things that have got to happen in Iraq; Firstly Political reconciliation, secondly economic reconstruction and thirdly the security of the Iraqi people as well as the UK Armed Forces deployed there, must be guaranteed:
"We will discharge our obligations to the Iraqi poeple, to the international community, and we wil discharge our obligations to to our own Armed Forces, who are doing a magnificent job." the PM said, adding:
"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."