Australia will review its troop deployment to Iraq by the end of this year, Defense Minister Brendan Nelson said yesterday -- the first time the Australian government has signaled a possible timeline for withdrawing its troops.
The announcement comes as Australian and British forces prepare to hand security responsibilities for a southern Iraqi province to homegrown forces, in a move seen as a precursor to the eventual withdrawal of the vast bulk of US-led foreign forces there.
Australia -- a staunch US ally -- has around 1,320 troops in Iraq and the Middle East, including 460 troops guarding Japanese reconstruction efforts in Iraq's southern Muthana province.
Earlier this week, the Iraqi government announced that Australian and British forces would soon hand over security responsibilities in the province to Iraqi forces. Japan subsequently announced its withdrawal from the region.
Nelson has said that Australia's 460 troops in Muthana province will be transferred to an air base in Tallil, about 100km southeast of their current posting in Samawah, when Japan withdraws.
Australia would then evaluate the success of the Iraqi forces in protecting Muthana province before reassessing its military presence in Iraq.
"I can assure you that the next six months in al-Muthana is going to be extremely important for our future involvement in Iraq," Nelson told the Channel Seven television network.
"If we can see that the provincial Iraqi government in al-Muthana can successfully manage its own affairs and its own security then I would expect that by the end of this year we would be starting to think about our future deployment," Nelson said.
The minister said he expected Iraqi forces would soon assume security responsibility over the entire country, and would then ask coalition partners to withdraw.
"At that point Australia will then move to withdraw," Nelson said.
The reassignment of Australian troops from Muthana would include about 30 soldiers to provide "basic training" to Iraqi security forces and another three to be sent to assist a counterinsurgency unit 20km outside Baghdad, Nelson said.
The minister did not specify how the remaining soldiers would be deployed, but said Australian forces would provide "general support and training" to Iraq forces and help protect Iraq's borders with Syria and Saudi Arabia.
Nelson has warned that Australia's new role in Iraq could increase the troops' chances of being drawn into combat. Most Australian forces currently don't have front-line roles.
Australia's conservative Prime Minister John Howard sent around 2,000 troops to Iraq in support of the US-led invasion in 2003, despite widespread opposition. He has repeatedly said that Australia will remain in Iraq for as long as its troops are needed, or until the Iraqi government asks them to withdraw.
Howard has repeatedly refused to answer calls from opposition lawmakers to set a timeline for bringing troops home.
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