BAGHDAD - Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced in Baghdad on Tuesday that 1,000 British troops could be home from Iraq by Christmas and Iraqi forces could take control of Basra within two months.
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British Prime Minister Gordon Brown (L) shakes hands with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in the heavily-fortified Green Zone in Baghdad. Brown has announced in Baghdad that 1,000 British troops could be home from Iraq by Christmas and Iraqi forces could take control of Basra within two months. [Agencies]
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"I believe that by the end of the year the British forces which have been 5,500 can be reduced to 4,500 and by Christmas 1,000 of our troops can be brought back to the UK for other purposes," Brown said on his maiden visit to Iraq as prime minister.
Asked if there would be a further reduction in early 2008, Brown replied that there would be no further announcement for the time being.
"We will make our decisions in the future based on our assessment on the ground," he told reporters outside the British embassy in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.
He was upbeat about prospects of Iraqi forces taking control of the southern province of Basra, where British troops have been deployed since the US-led invasion in 2003.
