Iraq says ready to take over Basra after UK pullout

By Staff
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BAGHDAD, Feb 22 (Reuters) The Iraqi government said today it was ready to take over security in southern Iraq once Britain withdraws 1,600 troops in the coming months, but insisted that British forces would still be needed for support.

A leading group of Sunni Muslim clerics that has long criticised the foreign troop presence said the withdrawal marked the beginning of the end for the US-led coalition in Iraq.

Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Wednesday that Britain would withdraw almost a quarter of its troops from Iraq, reducing its levels from 7,100 to roughly 5,500, most of them in the province of Basra.

In the first comments by the Iraqi government since Blair made his announcement in parliament, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said Britain's decision to reduce the number of its troops was a sign of the ''rapid development'' of Iraqi forces.

''The decrease in the number of British forces in Basra Province has been done in agreement with the Iraqi government,'' a statement from Maliki's office said.

''It is in line with the government's intention to take security responsibility in the province, with the continued need for the help of British forces in time of necessity.'' Blair, whose popularity at home has sunk because of Iraq, said British soldiers would remain into 2008 to provide support and training if Iraq wanted.

The Association of Muslim Scholars, an umbrella group that brings together religious leaders of Iraq's Sunni Muslim minority, welcomed news British troops would start to withdraw and said it expected the United States to follow suit soon.

''This step is a clear indication of the start of the split in the Anglo-American coalition in Iraq and the start of the expected defeat of the occupation of this patient country of Jihadists,'' the group said in a statement.

The organisation has long criticised the US presence in Iraq and has refused to participate in the political process.

Last year the Iraqi government ordered the arrest of its head, Sunni cleric Sheikh Harith al-Dari, after he said resistance to US forces was legitimate. Dari and many of the group's other senior figures live abroad.

Last year Britain handed over authority to Iraqi forces for Muthanna and Dhi Qar, two of the four southern provinces it took responsibility for after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

REUTERS BDP PM1919

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