UK says withdrawing troops from Bosnia

LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) Britain confirmed today it will withdraw its more than 600 remaining troops from Bosnia as concerns about security in the Balkan state ease.

Britain is scaling back its military commitments elsewhere to concentrate on Iraq and Afghanistan, where it now has a combined 12,600 troops.

Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram said the withdrawal of British troops from Bosnia followed a European Union decision to cut its 6,000 strong peacekeeping force there to 2,500 in June.

This meant British troops there would not need to be replaced, Ingram said.

''More than 600 troops -- principally from the Welsh Guards -- will return to the UK,'' he told parliament.

A group of British staff officers would remain at Sarajevo headquarters and a small number of troops would stay to dismantle a base at Banja Luka, he said.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said this week EU officials were much more relaxed about security. They have said they ultimately want to convert the military presence into a civilian force for lighter police-style tasks.

London announced last week that it was scaling back its mission in Iraq from 7,100 to 5,500. But it is sending an additional 1,400 troops to Afghanistan which will eventually take the force there to 7,700.

The opposition Conservatives said the troop withdrawal from Bosnia was a sign that British forces were overstretched.

''It's clear that as overstretch hits hard, the government is having to scratch around to find anywhere from which it can withdraw troops to then send to Afghanistan,'' Conservative defence spokesman Liam Fox said in a statement.

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