.bmp)
.bmp)
British forces are to transfer responsibility for security in Basra province to Iraq’s government in December, it has been announced.Des Browne, the Defence Secretary, and David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, said that after a formal handover ceremony British troops would be "in overwatch" in the region while the Iraqi police and army take on greater responsibility for security on the ground.Mr Browne is expected to agree a date in mid-December for the handover of the last Iraqi province still under British control when he meets the Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, in Baghdad on Wednesday. About 1,000 British troops are already due to leave southern Iraq by Christmas. "As always it’s a date that depends on circumstances on the ground but mid-December is the aiming point now for the handover," said a Foreign Office official. "That’s what we’ll be working for."Agreement between London and Baghdad on a target date is crucial to Downing Street’s hopes for an accelerated troop withdrawal from Iraq. British forces have turned over three of four southern Iraqi provinces originally under UK command to provincial Iraqi control. "The decision to hand over any of the provinces is not made lightly and a rigorous assessment of both the prospects for enduring security and the capabilities of the Iraqi authorities has been conducted," said a joint statement issued by Mr Browne and Mr Miliband."Following the formal handover ceremony in December, UK and coalition forces will be in overwatch across the whole of southern Iraq."Last month the Army pulled out of its last base in urban Basra, turning over the country’s second largest city to the Iraqi army.To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah....
