1,000 Troops Home By Christmas, Says Brown

Britain is to cut the numbers of British troops in Basra by 1,000 before the end of the year, Gordon Brown announced today during his first visit to Iraq since becoming prime minister.

The entire province of Basra could be handed over to full Iraqi control within the next two months, Mr Brown said in Baghdad.

"I believe that by the end of the year British troops can be reduced to 4,500," Mr Brown told reporters.

"That releases 1,000 of our troops and hopefully they will be home by Christmas."

Earlier, on arriving in Baghdad, Mr Brown went straight into a meeting with his Iraqi counterpart, Nuri al-Maliki, where the pair discussed the issue of British troop withdrawals from Basra, in the south of the country.

Mr Brown wanted to "discuss the developing security situation in Basra and the prospects for Iraqis taking full responsibility and the timescale for that", a British official told reporters ahead of the meeting.

Mr Brown was due to meet leaders drawn from the three main groupings in Iraq: the prime minister, a Shia; the Sunni vice-president, Tareq al-Hashemi; and the deputy prime minister, Barham Salih, a Kurd.

The prime minister was also due to meet the US commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus.

The announcement comes ahead of Mr Brown's Commons statement next week on the future of the British mission in Basra.

Speculation that Mr Brown could announce the imminent return of so many troops comes amid ever-increasing speculation that he is preparing the ground for an autumn general election.

UK troops are stationed at Basra airport after pulling out of Basra palace, their last base in the city itself.

British commanders are hoping to hand over full responsibility for security in the city to Iraqi forces over the coming weeks and months.

It is expected, however, that a British force will remain at the airport on "tactical over watch", ready to help the Iraqi security forces if they run into any difficulties they cannot manage alone.

There has been no deterioration in security in the city since the withdrawal from the palace, despite warnings that it could lead to further violence and bloodshed.

According to the MoD, rocket and mortar attacks aimed at the British airport base have fallen sharply over the last month, with only a few attempted strikes.