UK troops to start Iraq pullout in March

London, Dec.10 (ANI): Britain will begin withdrawing its 4,100-strong force from Iraq by the beginning of March, with almost all troops leaving within a few months, a senior defence source revealed yesterday.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown is expected to announce the pullout that, in effect, will end the UK's engagement in one of the most controversial wars in recent times, in the Commons next January, reports The Independent.

Most of the helicopters and unmanned Predator aircraft will be transferred to Afghanistan, and ministers will consider whether to send extra troops to Helmand for a temporary "surge" in time for the country's elections in September next year.

The UK forces in Basra are to be replaced by American troops who are expected to set up their southern Iraq headquarters in the city. As well as guarding the Iranian border, the US contingent will safeguard supply lines into Iraq.

A small detachment of UK troops of about 400 will remain behind, with an officer with the rank approximating a brigadier, to train Iraqi forces.

Britain will continue to train the Iraqi navy and also set up and run a staff college for officers in the country's armed forces.

The exact timetable of the withdrawal could not be formulated during negotiations with the Iraqi government of Nouri al-Maliki over the crucial Status of Force Agreement (Sofa) to work out the conditions of the troops leaving as well as those who would be staying behind.

That agreement is to be signed by the end of the year after approval by the Baghdad parliament.

The British military, it seems, had been moving equipment out of Iraq for some time in anticipation of the draw down, in an operation codenamed Archive. The gradual removal of assets is designed to minimize the need for long convoys heading out of Basra towards the Iraq border, which would present a target for the militias to attack.

American and British commanders say that disengagement from Iraq, with the loss so far of 177 British service personnel and thousands of Iraqis, can be done because there has been a dramatic improvement in the security situation in Basra and other southern areas since the operation.(ANI)