Blair Plans To Withdraw 1,600 Troops From Iraq

British troops sit on top of a tank as they secure the scene of a roadside bomb attack on a British patrol that left two Iraqi women injured, Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2006, in Basra, 550 kilometers (340 miles) southeast of Baghdad, Iraq. Prime Minister Tony Blair will announce on Wednesday Feb. 21, 2008 a new timetable for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq, with 1,500 to return home in several weeks, the BBC reported. Blair will also tell the House of Commons during his regular weekly appearance before it that a total of about 3,000 British soldiers will have left southern Iraq by the end of 2007, if the security there is sufficient, the British Broadcasting Corp. said, quoting government officials who weren't further identified. (AP Photo/Nabil al-Jurani) (Nabil Al-jurani - AP)

Coalition troops have handed over security control to the Iraqis in three southern provinces: Najaf, Muthanna and Dhi Qar. The 15 other provinces are still under the control of U.S.-led forces. American military officials have said they expect the Iraqis to take operational control of all Iraqi army divisions by this summer and to take security control in all provinces by fall.

"The Iraqi government feels very comfortable about the southern provinces and especially Basra; we have good security forces there," said Sami al-Askari, an adviser to the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Askari said he expects that after two months, the British troops will have moved out of the city center, restricting themselves to their bases, and that by the end of August 2008 there will be a full withdrawal of British troops.

"Now, the Iraqi security forces are not prepared. There will be a big security gap" when the British leave, said Naseer al-Ani, a Sunni member of parliament.

Ani and other Iraqi politicians saw the general trend of departing Western troops, whom they consider occupiers, as beneficial in the long term.

"Originally, the British forces, the American forces were coming to solve the situation and then they will leave. But we've seen the opposite: Wherever they stay for a long time . . . the situation keeps getting worse and worse," he said.

Iraqi forces in some cases have relied on coalition troops to bail them out in areas under their responsibility. In late January, a month after Iraqis took control of Najaf province, the Iraqi army needed the help of U.S. air support and ground troops to defeat an armed Shiite cult.

Still, officials in Najaf, which has a population of about 1.4 million people, said the departure of U.S. troops has been a political benefit.

"When the multinational forces were in Najaf, we had a lot of legal violations," said Najaf's governor, Asad Sultan Abu Gillel. Military operations were "carried out without legal notification, without an order from a judge," he said.

"This caused many problems for us with the local people," Abu Gillel said. "We live in a country filled with problems and terrorism, but at least we have full control."

At top strength, Britain had 40,000 troops in Iraq during the 2003 invasion. As of Feb. 9, 132 British military personnel in Iraq had died or were missing and believed killed since the invasion, said Lt. Col. Simon Etherington, a British military spokesman in Baghdad.

Blair declined to give any clear date for total withdrawal, saying the remaining troops would stay "into 2008 or as long as we are wanted and have a job to do." He added, "Increasingly, our role will be supporting and training, and our numbers will be able to reduce accordingly." He delivered his speech in the House of Commons.

Conservative leader David Cameron embraced the cuts, saying, "That news will be welcomed in this House, in the country and especially to the families of those serving in Iraq over the coming months."

Liberal Democrat leader Menzies Campbell, whose party opposed the war, said: "The unpalatable truth, Mr. Speaker, is this: that we will leave behind a country on the brink of civil war, where reconstruction has stalled, where corruption is endemic, and a region that is a lot less stable than it was in 2003."

Besides the United States and Britain, only five countries have 500 or more troops in Iraq: South Korea has 2,300, Poland and Georgia each have 900, Romania has 600 and Australia has 550, according to the Associated Press.

West European countries have remained largely opposed to the war, while East European countries, including former Soviet republics, have been more enthusiastic. The parliament in Bulgaria voted Wednesday to extend the mission of its 120 noncombat troops in Iraq until the end of March 2008. It also has 35 support personnel there.

Partlow reported from Baghdad. Special correspondents Saad Sarhan in Najaf and Naseer Mehdawi and Naseer Nouri in Baghdad contributed to this report.