Britain to start Iraq withdrawal in 'next few months': army chief

LONDON, March 7 Kyodo

Lt. Gen. Nick Houghton, the most senior British army officer in Baghdad, indicated Tuesday that Japanese and British soldiers could start their pullout of southern Iraq ''in the next few months.''

Houghton said in an interview with the Daily Telegraph that the withdrawal will start in Maysan and Muthana provinces, when security will be handed over to Iraqi forces.

There are currently around 600 Japanese ground troops in Samawah, Muthana Province, and any pullout is expected to be coordinated with the British force which currently controls that area.

According to reports, the Japanese pullout is expected to take place by late May.

This is the first time a senior British official has outlined a timetable for withdrawal.

Previously, Britain's Defense Secretary John Reid has said the pullout could start ''in the course of this year.''

The Defense Ministry said Houghton was setting out one possible scenario, and any decision depended on the capability of local forces and the threat from insurgents. No final decisions have been taken, a spokeswoman told Kyodo News.

Houghton said that troops numbers will be reduced in Maysan and Muthana, with the remainder staying on in bases to offer support and training to local forces.

If the Iraqi army and police are able to cope, then British troops would pullout of the two provinces entirely.

The same strategy would then be used for Britain's two other provinces, Basra and Dhiqar, with a pullout starting this time next year. It would allow for most of Britain's 8,000 troops to leave by early to mid-2008.

He told the newspaper, ''There is a fine line between staying too long and leaving too soon.

''A military transition over two years has a reasonable chance of avoiding the pitfalls of overstaying our welcome but gives us the best opportunity of consolidating the Iraqi security forces.''

Houghton said timing depended on the formation of a national unity government and that sectarian tensions did not worsen.

Deployed since early 2004, around 600 personnel from the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force have been based at Camp Smitty in Samawah, the provincial capital of Muthana, where they are carrying out humanitarian assistance. Due to constitutional constraints, they are unable to offer security assistance which is being provided by Australian troops.

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