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| Iraq |
| Britain to announce delay in Iraq troop cut |
| 2008-04-02 |
| LONDON - Britain was to announce on Tuesday that there are no current plans to reduce troop levels in southern Iraq, following a recent flare-up around Basra, reports said. Prime Minister Gordon Brown declined immediately to confirm the reports, but acknowleged “difficulties” presented by the recent unrest, and said decisions would be taken based on military advice on the ground. Brown announced in parliament last October that Britain hoped to reduce troop levels from 4,100 to 2,500 in the spring but media said that has been called into question by the recent fighting. His defence minister, Des Browne, was to make a statement on Iraq in the House of Commons at 3:30 pm (1430 GMT), the Ministry of Defence confirmed, but declined to comment on the reported announcement. The prime minister said: “It’s for him to announce what we will do for the future, but clearly when you have a series of clashes within Basra, you’ve got to take seriously what we’ve said all along: that we will have to listen to the military advice on the ground. “Troop numbers have come down from 7,000 to 4,000. We will make any further decisions on the basis of military advice on the ground and our assessment of what the conditions are on the ground,” he told his monthly press conference. The BBC reported the defence minister would say that there are no current plans to cut troops in Iraq, while the Guardian daily said Browne was expected to “abandon plans” to cut the number of British troops in Iraq. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 Fascinating. I hope they've increased the number of bullets allotted the troops over there. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2008-04-02 08:22 |