US President George W. Bush has been told to prepare for a British U-turn on Iraq once Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown becomes prime minister, the Sunday Telegraph newspaper said.
Bush has been briefed by White House officials to expect an announcement on British troop withdrawals during Brown's first 100 days in office, the weekly said.
The president was advised on how to handle the aftermath of a British pullout and the end of steadfast support from London, the broadsheet said, citing senior officials.
Prime Minister Tony Blair is due to step down on June 27 after a decade in power, with Brown set to take over.
Under Blair
Under Blair, Britain has been the US' staunchest ally in the war in Iraq and its key partner in the decision to invade the country in March 2003.
Senior officials in the US National Security Council, the Pentagon and the State Department have expressed their fears about Brown, the Sunday Telegraph said.
"There is a sense of foreboding," an unnamed senior official was quoted as saying. "We don't know if he will be there when we need him. We expect a gesture that will greatly weaken the United States government's position."
And Representative Mark Kirk, a congressman in Bush's Republican party who discussed Iraq policy at the White House last week, said: "The American view is that's he's a much weaker political leader than Blair. There's the fear in Washington that he won't be as strong an ally."
Blair was in Washington last week for his last talks with Bush, before jetting to Iraq for talks with political leaders in Baghdad and a visit to British troops in Basra.
"I have no doubt at all that Britain will remain steadfast in its support for Iraq," the prime minister said there.
"Even when I leave government I am sure that support will continue," he said.
A source close to Brown said: "These fears are unfounded. Gordon is a committed Atlanticist who wants to strengthen and deepen our ties with [the US] around our shared values and who wants to persuade the rest of Europe to work in closer cooperation with [the US]."
British troop numbers in Iraq are being scaled down from 7,100 to 5,500 this year.
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