Blair Announces Iraq Withdrawal Plan

In this image made from television, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, flanked by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, left, and Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown, addresses the House of Commons in London, Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2007, to announce the first large-scale British troop withdrawal from Iraq. Blair said that Britain will withdraw around 1,600 troops from Iraq over the "coming months" and aims to cut its 7,100-strong force to below 5,000 by late summer, if local forces can secure the southern part of the country. British troops will remain in Iraq until at least 2008 and work to secure the Iran-Iraq border and maintain supply routes to U.S. and coalition troops in central Iraq.(AP Photo/pa-tv) UNITED KINGDOM OUT: NO SALES: NO ARCHIVE: (AP)

LONDON -- British troops have achieved many tangible successes in Iraq _ securing oil platforms, rounding up rogue police units and driving smugglers carrying weapons and contraband from waterways and border crossings.

Now some of these tasks will be ceded to Iraqi troops for good.

Under proposals laid out by Prime Minister Tony Blair on Wednesday, Britain will withdraw about 1,600 troops from Iraq over the coming months and hopes to make other cuts to its 7,100-strong contingent by late summer.

British troops would likely stay in the southern Basra region until at least 2008, training local forces, working to secure the Iran-Iraq border and maintaining supply routes to U.S. and coalition troops in central Iraq, Blair told legislators.

Britain could further reduce its force level to below 5,000 once a base at Basra Palace is transferred to Iraqi control in late summer, the prime minister said.

"What all of this means is not that Basra is how we want it to be. But it does mean that the next chapter in Basra's history can be written by Iraqis," Blair said.

The announcement, on the same day Denmark said it would withdraw its 460 troops, comes as the U.S. is implementing an increase of 21,000 more troops for Iraq _ putting Washington on an opposite track as its main coalition allies.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice played down the British pullback, saying it is consistent with the U.S. plan to turn over more control to Iraqi forces.

"The British have done what is really the plan for the country as a whole, which is to transfer security responsibility to the Iraqis as the situation permits," Rice said. "The coalition remains intact and, in fact, the British still have thousands of troops deployed in Iraq."

The Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaida linked insurgent group, called the British decision "the beginning of the disintegration of the crusader coalition," according to a posting on a militant Web site translated by Washington-based SITE Institute, which monitors terrorism Internet messages.

The group, which has claimed responsibility for several recent downings of U.S. helicopters, also called on insurgents to block roads used by the coalition forces, saying time was "crucial."

British troops have performed many humanitarian tasks _ helping open hundreds of schools, fitting hospitals with modern equipment and replacing leaky water pipes _ but some say the real British legacy is likely to be a consolidation of Shiite control.