US says British troop pull out from Iraq indicates progress

Washington, Feb 22 (UNI) The Bush administration has described the British plan to pull out 1,600 of its troops from Iraq as another sign of progress in the coalition's strategy to strengthen Iraqi security forces.

''President Bush sees this as a sign of success and what is possible for us once we help the Iraqis deal with the sectarian violence in Baghdad,'' National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe told newspersons yesterday.

Britain would withdraw 1,600 troops in the coming months from its current contribution of 7,100 to the US-led coalition based in Iraq's southern Shiite-majority Basra province.

Prime Minister Tony Blair who made the announcement in the House of Commons yesterday said additional reductions could be possible later this year ''as security conditions in Iraq continued to improve.'' Denmark also announced yesterday that it would withdraw its 460 troops deployed with British forces and Lithuania said it was considering a similar action.

The announcements came as the United States is deploying additional 21,500 troops to the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, and to al-Anbar province.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said these steps illustrated the coalition's success in its strategy of training and mentoring the new Iraq's security forces to serve and protect its citizens.

''The fact that (coalition forces) have made some progress on the ground is going to enable them to move some of the forces out, and that's ultimately the kind of thing that we want to be able to see throughout Iraq,'' Snow said.

He said thousands of British forces would remain in the region ''further retooling their mission by embedding advisers with Iraqi army, police and border guard units as they achieve greater self-sufficiency.'' Vice-President Dick Cheney, who is currently on a visit to Japan, said, ''I look at it and see it is actually an affirmation that there are parts of Iraq where things are going pretty well.'' UNI