Britain will cut its military presence in Iraq by more than half to leave 2,500 troops there from the first half of next year, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Monday.
In a long-awaited statement to parliament, Brown said troop levels would be drastically reduced after Britain hands over power of Basra province to Iraqi security forces in the coming months.
Britain's troop reductions in southern Iraq has fueled talk of strains between London and Washington, although Brown's government has repeatedly insisted it is working closely with US President George W. Bush.
The first reduction, from 5,500 troops at the start of last month down to 4,500, would come immediately after Iraqi security forces assume control within the next two months, with 2,000 more being pulled out by early next year.
"We plan, from next spring, to reduce force numbers in southern Iraq to a figure of 2,500," he said.
At the peak of combat operations in the US-led invasion against former president Saddam Hussein in March and April 2003, Britain had 46,000 troops in Iraq.
"That's a very substantial reduction in the numbers but it is only possible because the Iraqis are now able to take the responsibility for security themselves," Brown told lawmakers.
Brown outlined "two distinct stages" to the handover: the first would see British forces training and mentoring Iraqi security forces, securing supply routes, protecting the Iraq-Iran border and provide back-up to local troops.
In the second, he said British forces would retain a more limited ability to intervene by force with the main focus on training and mentoring.
The prime minister told his monthly news conference earlier Monday that the withdrawal of British troops was not an "admission of defeat", but a sign of the increasing capacity and ability of the local security services.
Brown said that Britain will help Iraqi local staff who have worked for British forces to settle in Iraq and elsewhere, including Britain in certain circumstances.
Local staff including interpreters and translators who have worked for Britain for 12 months or more will be eligible for financial and other support, he said.
"I am pleased to announce today a new policy which more fully recognizes the contribution made by our local Iraqi staff who work for our armed forces and civilian missions in uniquely difficult circumstances," he said.
"Existing staff who have been employed by us for more than 12 months and have completed their work will be able to apply for a package of financial payments to aid resettlement elsewhere in Iraq or elsewhere in the region or -- in agreed circumstances -- for admission to the UK," he said.
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia
ON ALERT: A Russian cruise missile crossed into Polish airspace for about 40 seconds, the Polish military said, adding that it is constantly monitoring the war to protect its airspace Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, and the western region of Lviv early yesterday came under a “massive” Russian air attack, officials said, while a Russian cruise missile breached Polish airspace, the Polish military said. Russia and Ukraine have been engaged in a series of deadly aerial attacks, with yesterday’s strikes coming a day after the Russian military said it had seized the Ukrainian village of Ivanivske, west of Bakhmut. A militant attack on a Moscow concert hall on Friday that killed at least 133 people also became a new flash point between the two archrivals. “Explosions in the capital. Air defense is working. Do not